By: Daniel Nardini
Recently the Peruvian government has reopened its investigation into the forced sterilization of Peruvian indigenous women in the 1990’s. The question is how far this investigation will go, and what if any justice will be done to those responsible for forcibly sterilizing Peruvian women against their will. The government is considering giving the women compensation for being forcibly sterilized. The women themselves want those who committed what can only be called a crime against humanity punished more than anything else. The evidence is very clear what happened, and it is simply a question of who will be blamed for this inhuman act.
The forced sterilization program began when then Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori legalized sterilization in 1995 as a means of birth control. The whole thing was meant to be a voluntary process. However, the Ministry of Health began a campaign that made the procedure mandatory, especially for women in rural areas. Very soon the sterilizations for women was aimed at the poor indigenous women. Doctors and health care workers were given bonuses for the number of women who were sterilized, and the government did nothing about it. If anything, the campaign got worse as women were actually kidnapped and sterilized. Many women died due to the poor medical conditions and improper medical instruments used in forcibly sterilizing the women. Many Peruvian indigenous men were forcibly given vasectomies—also under poor medical conditions.
During the five year period that this sterilization program was operated, from 1995 to 2000, over 300,000 women were forcibly sterilized. The program ended only when Alberto Fujimori was overthrown. Sadly, this whole crime against humanity was swept under the rug until recently because many succeeding Peruvian presidents did not want to deal with it. When Alberto Fujimori’s daughter Keiko Fujimori ran for Peru’s presidency, the case of the sterilized women came back into the foreground. Keiko Fujimori was defeated by Ollanta Humala who has reopened the case of the sterilized women. There are a number of questions that have to be answered, but the biggest one is will there be enough will on the part of the Peruvian government to truly bring those who committed this crime against humanity to justice?
Justice for the Sterilized Women of Peru
By: Daniel Nardini
The forced sterilization program began when then Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori legalized sterilization in 1995 as a means of birth control. The whole thing was meant to be a voluntary process. However, the Ministry of Health began a campaign that made the procedure mandatory, especially for women in rural areas. Very soon the sterilizations for women was aimed at the poor indigenous women. Doctors and health care workers were given bonuses for the number of women who were sterilized, and the government did nothing about it. If anything, the campaign got worse as women were actually kidnapped and sterilized. Many women died due to the poor medical conditions and improper medical instruments used in forcibly sterilizing the women. Many Peruvian indigenous men were forcibly given vasectomies—also under poor medical conditions.
During the five year period that this sterilization program was operated, from 1995 to 2000, over 300,000 women were forcibly sterilized. The program ended only when Alberto Fujimori was overthrown. Sadly, this whole crime against humanity was swept under the rug until recently because many succeeding Peruvian presidents did not want to deal with it. When Alberto Fujimori’s daughter Keiko Fujimori ran for Peru’s presidency, the case of the sterilized women came back into the foreground. Keiko Fujimori was defeated by Ollanta Humala who has reopened the case of the sterilized women. There are a number of questions that have to be answered, but the biggest one is will there be enough will on the part of the Peruvian government to truly bring those who committed this crime against humanity to justice?