84 and frustrated.357 In sum, it is clear that non-consensual or involuntary sterilization, with the consequent impossibility to conceive, caused I.V. lasting physical and mental suffering, as well as considerable emotional pain, on a personal, family and social level. 269. In this regard, the Court notes that the sterilization had a radical effect on I.V.’s life. Thus, I.V. stated before the Court: 358 […] this tubal ligation, which was arbitrary, non-consensual, inhuman and without my consent exhausted me profoundly, and also my family. It also resulted in the break-up of the family, my separation from my husband. In addition, it led to my young daughter N.V. cutting her veins due to all the problems resulting from this sterilization that they did to me and, even today, I feel profound anguish that I was unable to take proper care of my girls, who were so young, because I was concentrating on this fight, in my trust in justice, that these things should not remain unpunished. I was involved in the administrative procedure and in the judicial proceedings and this has even caused my little girl to feel guilty, because even when she was very little, she though that it was owing to her birth that she was to blame for what happened to me. The State doesn’t know all the suffering, all the pain, all the sacrifice we have been through. The State doesn’t know the difficulties we have faced, owing to all the effort, all the struggle, so much pain. My body couldn’t resist this; my mind could bear it no longer and I had a mental health crisis in November 2013 and this is why they had to put me in a mental health hospital. I was interned there for three weeks and my children have seen all this pain, all this suffering, seeing how their mother escaped from the house, fleeing from the house barefoot and in pajamas, and now the doctors who have seen me have told me that I must take carbamazepine and alopurinol for as long as I live, owing to all the suffering I have experienced, for the non-consensual sterilization that they did to me. They destroyed my reproductive system; they curtailed my right to be a mother again, they prevented me from having a male child; they caused pain and suffering to two children; they harmed me in a number of ways, I could even have died, because they left placental remains which resulted in endometritis, and if this had not been treated promptly it could have led to my death. 270. Based on all the above, the Court concludes that the non-consensual or involuntary sterilization to which I.V. was subjected, in the particular circumstances of this case that have been described, constituted cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, contrary to human dignity and, therefore, constituted a violation of Article 5(1) and 5(2) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of I.V. VIII-3 RIGHTS TO JUDICIAL GUARANTEES359 AND TO JUDICIAL PROTECTION,360 IN RELATION TO THE OBLIGATIONS TO RESPECT AND TO ENSURE RIGHTS WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION AND ARTICLE 7 OF THE CONVENTION OF BELÉM DO PARÁ361 357 Statement made by I.V. before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on May 2, 2016. 358 Statement made by I.V. before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on May 2, 2016. Article 8(1), stipulates that “[e]very person has the right to a hearing, with due guarantees and within a reasonable time, by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, previously established by law, in the substantiation of any accusation of a criminal nature made against him or for the determination of his rights and obligations of a civil, labor, fiscal, or any other nature. 359 360 The relevant part of Article 25 establishes that: 1. Everyone has the right to simple and prompt recourse, or any other effective recourse, to a competent court or tribunal for protection against acts that violate his fundamental rights recognized by the constitution or laws of the state concerned or by this Convention, even though such violation may have been committed by persons acting in the course of their official duties. 2. Los The States Parties undertake: to ensure that any person claiming such remedy shall have his rights determined by the competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State.” The relevant part of Article 7 of the Convention of Belém do Pará stipulates that: “[t]he States Parties condemn all forms of violence against women and agree to pursue, by all appropriate means and without delay, policies to prevent, punish and eradicate such violence and undertake to: 361 […]