Precarious Lives: Forced sterilisation and the struggle for reproductive justice in Peru

ABSTRACT

It is estimated that more than 200,000 women were sterilised without giving free, prior and informed consent in Peru between 1996 and 2000 during the Fujimori regime. This paper places forced sterilisation within the frameworks of precarity and reproductive justice to understand policies that legitimised the violation of women's rights irrespective of the type of political regime: forced sterilisations during a dictatorial regime and denial of access to sexual and reproductive rights during a period of democracy. Through document analysis, this paper examines narratives around sterilisation and reproduction produced by policymakers, political and religious leaders and health care practitioners during these two political periods. This paper shows the continuity of the struggle that marginalised populations face in exercising their reproductive rights in the context of symbolic and structural inequalities.

KEYWORDS:

• Forced sterilisation
• precarity
• reproductive justice
• feminine capital
• symbolic and structural inequalities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 La Madre is a non-governmental initiative that archives the collective memory of the women and men who were sterilised against their will during the Fujimori regime. Academics and activists who are part of this initiative collect information that supports those seeking justice and reparations for the victims. http://www.lamadre.pe

2 In 2003, an agreement was reached to settle Mamérita Mestanza's case through an ‘amicable settlement’ between the Peruvian state and the petitionary organisations. Despite this historic outcome, many of the commitments by the Peruvian state remain to be implemented, including its promise to further investigate and sanction the perpetrators and deliver justice and reparations to victims like Mamérita Mestanza (IACHR, 2002). The IACHR's full verdict in the case can be seen at www.cidh.oas.org/women/Peru.12191sp.htm.

3 Peruvian symbolic and structural inequalities have its extreme exemplification in the context of the internal armed conflict which occurred between 1980 and 2000, when according to The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, almost 70,000 Peruvians disappeared, and of the total victims reported, 79 percent were ethnic minorities who lived in rural areas (TRC, 2003). As a social impact, this report was a ‘surprise’ to the mainstream urban hegemonic society that didn't ‘notice’ this enormous number of disappeared human beings.

4 Fujimori orchestrated a fraudulent third re-election in 2000, but strong local movements denounced the corruption and he absconded to Japan. He subsequently returned to Peru, and in 2009 was sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption and human rights violations. Fujimori's successor, Alejandro Toledo, is currently facing corruption charges in Peruvian and USA courts.