Luxembourg takes steps for women's rights, campaigners call for further progress

Much progress has been made, but the journey is far from over: that's how women's groups and local activists see the recently passed revisions to Luxembourg's abortion laws. While abortion was legalised in the Grand Duchy in 1978 and has become far more widely accessible since 2014, a next step has more recently come to pass: the mandatory 3-day reflection period for women seeking an abortion will be scrapped, and hymen reconstruction as well as the issuing of virginity certificates are now prohibited.

"The 3-day wait was an infantilisation of women, and a consequence of a paternalistic state," said Ainhoa Achutegui, president of Planning Familial. "This is why we fought a lot against it, and we are really happy that these three days will be eliminated."

Local activist and illustrator Dunia Ciuferri said, "I don't think abortions are something people decide to do without being 100% sure of it – there are risks and pain and stigma involved, and therefore the 3-day reflection period has always been unnecessary. People who need abortions shouldn't have to wait X amount of time to have access to the procedure they need." Hymen reconstruction and virginity certificates have remained an active practice, too.

At the time of writing, at least two clinics still actively advertise hymenoplasty procedures in Luxembourg. Claire Schadeck of the CID Fraen an Gender (CID Women and Gender) points to a case from as recently as 2023: "We were contacted by Enji Ismaili and Sandra Dessi, a social worker and a teacher, who encountered cases of students being required to obtain virginity certificates."

Supporting their cause from petition to parliamentary debate, Schadeck says that the initiative of Ismaili and Dessi played a crucial role in shedding light on the reality of this practice in Luxembourg, and ultimately contributed to the legislative ban.

These amendments further align Luxembourg with a global move to advance human dignity and women's rights: In 2018 the United Nations (UN), UN Women and the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for a ban on virginity testing, stating that such an examination had "no scientific merit or clinical indication" and defined the practice as a violation of the victim's human rights, with short and long-term consequences to physical, psychological, and social well-being.

"We welcome the recent amendments to Luxembourgish legislation, about the abolition of the 3-day reflection period, the prohibition of hymen reconstruction, and the ban on virginity tests," said Schadeck. "These changes align with the longstanding advocacy efforts of our association and represent a crucial step towards achieving gender equality in Luxembourg."

Extending the term limit

Another change is in the works: amending the legal term limit for abortions from 12 weeks to 14 weeks. While calls to extend the 12 weeks to 14 were recently rejected, champions of the cause argue that this is an essential next step.

"While we acknowledge the importance of maintaining access to abortion within the current 12-week framework, we recognise that various factors may prevent individuals from obtaining an abortion within this 12-week period," said Schadeck.

These factors include late or irregular menstrual cycles, experiences of gender-based violence, and societal stigma, among others. Most countries in the European Union permit abortions within 12 weeks of pregnancy, with France and Spain setting the deadline at 14 weeks. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, termination of pregnancy is allowed at up to 24 weeks.

"Extending the legal timeframe to 14 weeks would be an important step in upholding the right to bodily self-determination and ensuring broader access to safe abortion services," Schadeck explained.

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) continues to push for an extension of the abortion deadline, arguing that women need more time to make informed decisions and access necessary care. The party is also pushing for abortion rights to be added to the constitution and for laws to prevent obstruction of abortion access.

Admission into the Constitution

While the recent amendments are good news for advocates and campaigners, for most this is simply the start of much more to come. One key goal: enshrining Luxembourg's abortion law in the constitution. France is currently the only country to have inserted abortion rights into the constitution, a landmark moment for women's rights in 2024. "Given the global rise of anti-feminist and right-wing movements, we consider it essential to enshrine these legislative advancements within the constitution," said Schadeck.

"Constitutional protections serve as a safeguard for feminist achievements and women's rights, offering a more robust defense against potential regressions." While amending the constitution is a more complex task, and one that takes longer than modifying ordinary laws, she added that this would provide stronger and more enduring legal protection.

"We have to fight together to have it in the constitution, this is very important," Achutegui agreed. "We have to show that for us, it's a right. We want it to be the right of every woman who decides not to continue their pregnancy. For that we also need society to fight for it."

And it is not only insertion into the constitution that campaigners work towards, but what they say are outdated wordings in the law itself. "[There are] so many things we have to change," said Achutegui. "We have to reform the actual law because it has some paragraphs which are obsolete, and very old-fashioned."

Advancing health and safety for women

Beyond the matter of abortion, there remains considerable work to be done to ensure the health and safety of women in Luxembourg.

For CID, this includes "healthcare services fully integrating a gender-sensitive approach", and "continuing to advocate for the systematic inclusion of gender perspectives in the training of healthcare professionals". "I think we're on a good path, but in an ideal Luxembourg, we'd need more women and queer people in politics and parliament, so that the decisions and laws are being created by our people, for our people," said Ciuferri, whose tattoo studio is also home to regular workshops and gatherings for women and the queer community.

In a statement to RTL Today, Justice Minister Elisabeth Margue said, "The Ministry of Justice is undertaking a modernisation of our legal framework, in particular of the Criminal Code, to better protect victims of violence, especially of domestic and sexual violence, who are primarily women, to better prevent such crimes, and to hold perpetrators adequately accountable."

Following the prohibition of hymen reconstruction and virginity tests, she stressed that Luxembourg will continue to make significant strides in advancing women's rights, but "it is not one law, or just the Criminal Code, that we need to focus on, but measures and projects in several areas, and the cooperation between many ministries in order to further ensure effective protection for victims of violence."

New and upcoming measures by the government include accelerating the digitalisation of the justice system to improve statistical data collection, a pilot project for a National Center for Victims of Violence which is expected to be launched this spring, and a national action plan against gender-based violence, which will be finalised before summer.