State on February 9, 2005, and, on February 14, 2005, it submitted an addendum to its initial reply. 6. The IACHR also received information from the petitioner on the following dates: September 27, 2005, March 7, 2006, October 17, 2006, April 25, 2007, and September 11, 2007. These communications were duly forwarded to the State. 7. Additionally, the IACHR received observations from the State on the following dates: April 22, 2005, November 4, 2005, and July 2, 2007. Said communications were duly forwarded to the petitioners. III. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES A. Position of the petitioners 8. The petitioner states that her daughter V.R.P., aged 9, was sexually abused on two occasions by her father, H.R.A.. She states that on October 16, 2001, she and her daughter went to a hospital because the child could not control her bowels and the pediatrician stated that the child had polyps near the rectum, subsequently finding through a biopsy that V.R.P. had contracted the Human Papilloma Virus.4 9. The petitioner reports that, on that occasion, the child said that on September 14, 2000, her father had taken her to the “Las Flores” farm, had given her coffee, taken her to the woods, and that afterwards she did not know what her father had done with her because she fell asleep, and that on October 1, 2000, her father had again taken her to “Las Flores,” this time to a house under construction, and had given her coffee to drink, and she felt dizzy and fell asleep. On awakening, she saw that her father was fastening his belt, straightening the front of his pants, zipping his zipper, and cleaning her rectal area. She also alleges that she felt a great deal of pain.5 The petitioner states that the child had not told her of these facts because she was afraid they would scold her. 4 According to the World Health Organizations (WHO), the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infects the epithelial cells (mucous or skin cells), is largely a sexuallytransmitted infection that may be asymptomatic, and may cause cervical cancer. The WHO indicates that the incidence of HPV-related cancer is higher among girls than among boys and that cervical cancer is the second cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide. See the WHO’s web page http://www.who.int/es/index.html. 5 The petitioner attached a copy of the mental evaluation made at Jinotega Victoria Hospital on November 26, 2001. Forensic Report Nº 16275/01 of November 27, 2001. 3