Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 2009

Keywords

Peru, Enforced sterilization, Reproductive rights, Peruvian Truth Commission

Disciplines

Human Rights Law | Law and Gender

Abstract

This Article argues that the exclusion of enforced sterilization cases from the Peruvian Truth Commission's investigation and Final Report effectively erases State responsibility and decreases the likelihood for justice and reparations for women victims-survivors of State-sponsored violence in Peru. In a context of deep cultural and economic divides and violent conflict, this Article recounts how the State's Family Planning Program violated Peruvian women's reproductive rights by sterilizing low-income, indigenous Quechua-speaking women without informed consent. This Article argues that these systematic reproductive injustices constitute an act of genocide, proposes an independent inquiry, and advocates for a more inclusive investigation and final report for future truth commissions whose goals include truth, accountability, and justice for all victims-survivors of state-sponsored violence. Leaders responsible for the enforced sterilization of more than 200,000 Peruvian women, including former President Alberto Ken'ya Fujimori, must be held accountable for past violations in order to fully realize future reconciliation and justice in Peru.

Publication Citation

Jocelyn E. Getgen, "Untold Truths: The Exclusion of Enforced Sterilizations from the Peruvian Truth Commission's Final Report", 29 Boston College Third World Law Journal (2009)

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