• About

kimberly theidon

~ exploring civil wars and their legacies

kimberly theidon

Category Archives: News from Peru

Update on (in)justice for the thousands of women and men who were sterilized in Peru

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ 1 Comment

http://www.trust.org/item/20140130184622-ex2mg/

This issue remains one of my outstanding debts to Peru, and one I am committed to repaying.  I began my research in Ayacucho in 1996 when I was a graduate student at UC Berkeley.  For anyone spending time in rural communities, it was virtually impossible not hear about the women (and men) suffering the consequences of poorly performed sterilizations.  There were children who asked me to visit their mothers, assuring me they had brought their mothers home from the health posts on the back of the family’s mule because the women were unable to walk.  There were women who insisted their abdomens ached, and that they could no longer work in their fields.  These conversations were complemented by the health care providers who sought me out — some to deny the role they had played in this “family planning campaign,” and others who sought a confessional space to admit what they had done.  I recall an “obstetriz” in Cangallo whose eyes swelled with tears as she described the “Tubal Ligation Festival” in which she had participated in the nearby hospital.   She told me the small medical team had sterilized 147 women in two days, a number that outpaced the available quantity of anesthesia.  As the anesthetic supply ran short, the medical team was unable to fully “knock the women out,” and their screams began to scare the women seated in the waiting room. When the frightened women tried to leave, someone locked the doors of the hospital while the team continued to perform the tubal ligations midst the fear and pain.  She acknowledged the quota system that had been imposed on health care workers — a certain number of women and men should be sterilized each month to comply with the Ministry of Health — but made clear that her conscience could not bend far enough to live with what she had done.

The complicity within Peru was extensive, and reached to the highest levels of the Ministry of Health and the government. But complicity  in this mass violation of reproductive rights did not stop at the geopolitical boundaries of the  Peruvian state.  USAID was a key source of financial support, and the investigation into this widespread form of sexual violence should include this international actor.

The women and men who suffered these forced sterilizations deserve reparations.  In this case, justice is terribly delayed — but need not be denied.

Y nuevamente, la memoria emblemática de Uchuraccay

04 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

así que ofrezco una vez más algunas contramemorias. 152 UCHURACCAY 152 UCHURACCAY

Peru’s Painful Mirror: Ten Years Post-TRC

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

Exhumations in Peru_2013http://www.ictj.org/perus-painful-mirror/

Photo from The Washington Post, 12/3/2013

Reportaje sobre la violencia sexual durante el conflicto armado interno

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

 

Entrevista con Kimberly Theidon y Edith Del Pino

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

theidon_delpino_texto.Argumentos.13theidon_delpino_texto.Argumentos.13

Brutal war that Shining Path waged on the Ashaninka

29 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ 1 Comment

 

La violencia sexual en Perú, con Jaris Mujica

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiW9GG2x5_s&feature=em-share_video_user

ANFASEP: Love and the Disappeared

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

More information about the forced sterilizations in Peru

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

I have spoken with women who were subjected to these sterilizations, as well as nurses and doctors who participated in the “Ferias de AQV,” referring to sterilizations done in a group setting.  I will be posting more articles on this important issue.  These human rights violations are not included in Peru’s Integral Reparations Plan.

A question to ponder: Why have these documented cases of forced sterilization, carried out by the Peruvian government via the Ministry of Health (MINSA) not resulted in genocide charges?

http://www.larepublica.pe/columnistas/el-factor-humano/las-indias-no-deben-concebir-26-11-2012

Short video about sexual violence and reparations in Peru

12 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by kimberlytheidon in News from Peru

≈ Leave a comment

It is vitally important to continue drawing attention to the issue of reparations for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Peru — both women and men.  The Victim Registry (RUV) is under-funded and under-staffed.  Videos such as this one, produced by COMISEDH, are one step. I advocate short “spots”  on the television and radio as well, directed not only to women (who habitually bear the narrative burden for sexual violence) but to the broader society. The spots could include a few questions: Where are the men who committed these violations?  What were they told to do by their superiors? Have they ever spoken with anyone about the sexual violence they committed? The sexual violence they suffered themselves?

Let’s make this issue one everyone shares, not just the women who survived these brutal actions.

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Recent Posts

  • La Tercera, Chile
  • Gracías al Instituto Milenio VioDemos, Chile
  • Legados de la Guerra: Violencia, Ecología y Parentesco
  • Delighted to be joining wonderful students and colleagues in Chile
  • Colombian Studies Initiative, “Presidential Elections in Colombia: Challenges in Perspective”

Categories

  • "Challenging Conceptions: Children born of wartime rape and sexual exploitation"
  • Announcements
  • Drugs, Security and Democracy Program
  • Ecologies of Justice: Environmental Humanities and civic Activism
  • Gender Analysis and Inclusive Leadership Program
  • Interviews and Podcasts
  • Intimate Enemies: Violence and Reconciliation in Peru
  • Legacies of war: Violence, Ecologies and Kin
  • News from Colombia
  • News from Peru
  • Opinions
  • Publications
  • Reviews of Intimate Enemies
  • Solidarity and What We Can Do
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Teaching
  • Title IX Issues and Updates
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • January 2019
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012

A WordPress.com Website.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • kimberly theidon
    • Join 3,316 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • kimberly theidon
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...