A young rape victim has been denied the right to an abortion in Sonora, Mexico, after a judge downgraded her abuser's crime from "rape" to "sexual coercion".

On 2 May 2016, the 13-year-old girl was raped by a work colleague of her father’s at her home in northern Mexico.

Just hours after the attack, she was taken by her family to a local police station, where she reported her abuser to the police.

According to the Group for Information on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), an organisation which defends the right of women to access legal abortion and contraceptive methods, the girl was not offered emergency contraception upon reporting the rape.

She was, however, later examined by doctors, who compiled a medical report showing physical evidence that she had been subjected to sexual violence.

Despite this, the judge presiding over the case has made the decision to downgrade the perpetrator’s sentence from rape to “illegal sex with a minor”, ruling that the man had gained the girl’s consent by deception.

As a result, the state health department has now said it cannot authorize a termination for the teenager, as only rape-related abortions are legal in Sonora, Mexico.

Rape victim, 13, refused access to an abortion