Concerns raised over Chilean bills that could punish reports of sexual abuse

Date: 21st October 2026
Category: Violence against children

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The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has warned that family courts around the world often treat mothers and children who report abuse with suspicion, under the label of "parental alienation" (read here). In Latin America, that suspicion is being written into law.

In Chile, Congress is debating three coordinated bills that would allow anyone who reported child sexual abuse and could not prove it to be sued and prosecuted, even without bad faith; the Supreme Court has issued a critical report. In Argentina, a Senate bill would raise penalties for false reports of gender violence, and in February 2026 the UN CEDAW Committee asked the country to withdraw it. In Peru, a bill would punish false reports of family violence with three to six years in prison. In Brazil UN experts say the 2010 parental alienation law makes mothers afraid to report abuse, and in December 2025 a committee of the Chamber of Deputies voted to repeal it. Knowingly false reporting is already a crime in all four countries, as in most of the world. In Chile, only 9 out of 100 people sexually abused before age 18 ever report it, and most cases close for lack of evidence.

Fundación Para la Confianza are calling on organisations worldwide to sign a public statement opposing the Chilean bills and protecting survivors’ right to report abuse without fear of punishment.

Sign the public statement on Fundación Para la Confianza webpage