For information on legal measures available to female victims of domestic violence, please see GTM42338.E of 31 March 2004.

Section 7 of Guatemala’s Law to Prevent, Punish and Eliminate Family Violence (Ley Para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar la Violencia Intrafamiliar) stipulates that, in a situation of family violence, the courts can order, among other things, that the [translation] “presumed aggressor immediately leave the family home, and if the aggressor resists, force may be used,” and that [translation] “the home may be forcibly entered when family violence endangers physical, sexual or psychological integrity, or property” (Guatemala 28 Nov. 1996, s. 7).

For information on the recurso de exhibición personal and the circumstances in which it can be ordered, please see GTM28722.FE of 3 February 1998. More up-to-date information on the recurso de exhibición personal could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Guatemala. 28 November 1996. Ley Para Prevenir, Sancionar y Erradicar la Violencia Intrafamiliar. (United Nations Development Programme) http://www.undp.org/rblac/gender/campaign-spanish/guatemala.htm [Accessed 29 Apr. 2004]

Attempts to contact the Agrupación de Mujeres Tierra Viva, the Grupo Guatemalteco de Mujeres (GGM) and the Red de la No Violencia Contra las Mujeres were unsucessful.

Internet sites, including: European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), La Hora, El Periódico, Prensa Libre, United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network, World News Connection (WNC)