Women's Rights in Peru

By Christina Swan

Peru has had a significant problem concerning violation of women and children’s rights. Although it can be said that advances have been made, progress has been slow. Women and children in Peru experience discrimination, domestic violence, sexual abuse, rape, lack of education and availability of legal abortions and contraceptives, lack of K-9 education, lack of health care, and a lack of legal recourse on many of the human rights violations committed against them to list a few.
Discrimination comes in many forms. Women have fewer opportunities to obtain jobs than men, and when they do get jobs, many aren’t compensated at the same rate as a man would in the same job. Jobs in the political sphere are even harder for women to get. According to the US Department of State, in 2001, “there were 22 women in the 120-member congress and 4 female regional presidents. Approximately 3 percent of the mayors and 25 percent of the city council officers elected at the local level were women. There were 2 women in the cabinet; the attorney general was a woman; and there was 1 woman on the Supreme Court of Justice.” Even though US Department of the State says, “the law provides for equality between men and women and prohibits discrimination against women relative to marriage, divorce, and property rights” in reference to Peru, violations are still present.

Attached is a picture of a woman named Nelly Marcos Manrique. She is a symbol of hope for women’s rights, especially indigenous women. Through working with Chirapaq, which is the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Cultures of Peru, she became the Municipal agent in the Black River District in 2004, and also helped “recover land that belonged to Ashinka ancestors.” Her leadership role in her indigenous community brings inspiration that progress is being made to bring women up to an equal standard with men in comparable positions.
In Edward Cleary’s work, Mobilizing for Human Rights in Latin America, he states that “almost half of Latin American women reported psychological abuse, while one to two women in five experience physical violence.” In Peru in 2005, 25,863 domestic violence cases were reported by the Ministry of Women and Social Development (MIMDES). That is only the number of cases reported. NGO’s state that many cases aren’t reported “due to fear of retaliation from the accused spouse or because of the cost involved in pursuing a complaint.” Although the law allows for investigation of and prosecution for domestic violence, many complaints aren’t taken seriously, and many abusers are not prosecuted for their crimes, or spend minimal time in jail. In 2004, MIMDES reported 2,721 cases of children ages 12 to 17 that experienced violence or sexual abuse. Human trafficking made victims of women and children in Peru as well.

Also attached are pictures from the MIMDES’s women’s emergency center, Chirapaq, and Lundu (The Center of Afro-Peruvian Studies and Promotion). All three of these groups are working towards better rights for women in Peru. MIMDES has been especially influential in educating about women and children’s rights, as well as awareness of the growing problems with violations.

Chirapaq and Lundu have been more influential in women and children’s rights in the realm of indigenous rights. Many of them have programs to help women become more independent, by giving them job, educational, and social skills to help them compete in a male dominated world.

They provide legal assistance and representation for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. They provide empowerment to women, giving them the confidence to pursue equality in leadership, domestic, and employment roles. The activisms by groups like these are giving women the tools to help them fight for their equal rights, instead of waiting for the world to give them these rights.

Sources: Mobilizing for Human Rights in Latin America by Edward Cleary; http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61738.htm; http://www.thp.org/learn_more/news/latest_news/peru_october_2008_update_to_global_board; http://www.mimdes.gob.pe/; http://www.madre.org/index/meet-madre-1/our-partners-6/peru-chirapaq--lundu-43.html; http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/07/09/peru-risk-women-denied-legal-abortions;