This presentation was delivered in the Indigenous Liberation Studies class by Angela Ruck. This presentation examines the history of forced sterilization practices in Peru. In recent years, various groups of activists, journalists and artists have helped draw attention to the cause and started to weave a network of support to the thousands of women and men affected.

1. Angela Ruck
Indigenous Liberation Studies 2016
Bachelor of Applied Social Science year 3
Waikato Institute of Technology

2. Indigenous liberation movement
The Blood red protests have been brought about by a number of organizations.
Association for Human Rights in Peru (APRODEH)
Study for the Defence of the Rights of Women (DEMUS)(1994)
Latin American Committee for the Defence of the Rights of Women (CLADEM)
Centre for Justice in International Law (CEJIL)
Roots and Wings, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
CEDAW(1990)
Latin American feminist movement
The Quipu project (oral history)(2011)
“In recent years, various groups of activists, journalists and artists have helped draw attention to the case and start weaving a network of
support to the thousands of women and men affected. The Quipu Project is born in this context and since 2013 works in collaboration with
organisations in Piura, Ayacucho and Cusco, to create a tool that not only allows them to connect with each other but also unite their voices
and finally be heard by others” (Quipu: Living Documentary, 2016).
“The name Quipu derives from a method of communication employed by the Inca and other Andean civilisations, using tied knots on pieces
of string to keep records and transmit information”
The Quipu project gave hundreds of thousands indigenous women and men a voice to the injustice's they experienced.

3. Map of part of Peru, Bolivia and northernmost
Chile, showing the Spanish Treasure route
between La Paz and Lima, with the Andes and
Amazon Jungles beyond the Andes depicted,
oriented with east at the top of the map.
 The republic of Peru was constructed according to the ideals of the Enlightenment and
the new ideas of liberalism in Europe and North America. The first Constitution of 1823
expressed this spirit: it assumed a culturally homogenous nation under Creole
leadership in which Spanish was the sole official language and Catholicism the religion
 (Stavenhagen,1992).
 Inspired by these ideals, liberators proclaimed the indigenous “citizens” and attempted
to provide both “Spaniards” and “Indians” with the same rights (Paredes, 2008).
 The law modified the constitution of 1860 and restricted voting rights to male literates,
thereby excluding the majority of indigenous people, who were illiterate (Paredes,
2008).

4.  In the 1990s, during his 10-year reign as president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori launched a new family planning
program that resulted in the sterilization of 272,000 women and 22,000 men in only four years. They were
almost exclusively rural and indigenous, and thousands have claimed this was done without their informed
consent. In many cases the operations weren’t only involuntarily but they were also done poorly, and many
suffered from painful complications afterwards. Because indigenous communities often live in isolated villages
and are illiterate, it wasn’t until long after Fujimori’s resignation in 2000 that the injustice came to light, and even
then only in dribs and drabs. (Amsterdam, 2016)
 It has been alleged but denied that the funding for the programme came from “USAid”
 Fujimori daughter is running for election in 2016 – she denies that the forced sterilizations took place and says
they were done with consent “Fujimori’s daughter Keiko Fujimori, the presidential frontrunner in the country’s
2016 elections with the center-right Popular Force party, has also suggested that forced sterilizations never
happened, saying victims will be compensated “if there were any.” (Tegel, 2015)
 The Quipu project and women's movements are bringing more of the story's to the Spanish speaking soiecty
and the world
 This has heighten the blood red protest

5.  In 2004, the Peruvian state pledged before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to
investigate and sanction those responsible for the sterilisation campaign. Legal proceedings were
opened but then shelved in 2009 only to be re-opened in 2011.
 In November 2015 the Peruvian Government issued a Supreme Decree in which it "declared of national
interest the priority attention of victims of forced sterilization produced between 1995-2001 and make
the appropriate register." This is an important step as it is the first time that the Peruvian State
acknowledges that citizen’s rights were violated during the implementation of the programme.
However, it does not yet ensure justice and reparation for those affected. (Quipu: Living Documentary,
2016)

6.  “most of the peasant women who were sterilized only spoke Quechua or Aymara, and many of them did not know
how to name what had happened to their bodies even in their own language” (Sala, 2014)
 The areas more severely affected by the Reproductive Health Programme(1990) were Huancavelica, Piura,
Ayacucho, Cusco, Apurímac, La Libertad, Puno, San Martín and Cajamarca. All of these are particularly Andean
regions, affected by extreme poverty, where people speak mainly Quechua or Aymara instead of Spanish. (Quipu:
Living Documentary, 2016)
 The first complaints emerged in 1997 (Tegel, 2015).

7.  1995: President Alberto Fujimori modifies the General Population Law to incorporate voluntary surgical contraception (sterilisation) as part of the
contraceptive methods on offer
 1996: Reproductive Health and Family Planning Programme starts and Mamerita Mestanza dies following a tubal ligation she did not consent to
 2001: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights awards a settlement to her family, opening the door to other cases
 2003: Prosecutors start investigating allegations of forced sterilisations
 2009: Investigation shelved for lack of evidence
 2011: Investigation is re-opened
 2014: Second probe shelved for lack of evidence
 2015: Investigation re-opened again, Peru's government creates a national registry of forced sterilisations
 2016: Deadline for the investigation to conclude

8.  https://interactive.quipu-
project.com/#/en/quipu/listen/intronode?currentTime=0&view=thread&tag=justi
ce

9.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv9GtGl4Odk&feature=youtu.be

10. References
 Ballon, A. (2014). Memories of the Peruvian case of forced sterilization . Lima: National Library of Peru .
 First Peoples Worldwide. (2016, April 28). Who Are Indigenous Peoples: The Indigenous Movement. Retrieved from First Peoples
Worldwide: http://www.firstpeoples.org/who-are-indigenous-peoples/the-indigenous-movement
 Ford, L. (2016, April 29). The Guardian. Retrieved from Peru's forcibly sterilised women find their voice :
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/04/peru-forced-sterilisation-quipu-project-alberto-fujimori
 Indiegogo. (2016, April 28). Quipu Project - a living, interactive documentary. Retrieved from Indiegogo:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/quipu-project-a-living-interactive-documentary#/
 Paredes, M. (2008). Weak Indigenous Politics in Peru. Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, 1-31.
 Quipu: Living Documentary. (2016, April 30). Retrieved from React: http://old.react-hub.org.uk/future-doc-sandbox/projects/2013/quipu/
 Sala, M. (2014, February 10). Forced sterilization and impunity in Peru . Retrieved from 50.50 inclusive democracy:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/mariella-sala/forced-sterilization-and-impunity-in-peru
 Tegel, S. (2015, December 19th). Justice Might Just Be Possible in the Case of Mass Forced Sterilizations in Peru. Retrieved from Vice
News: https://news.vice.com/article/justice-might-just-be-possible-in-the-case-of-mass-forced-sterilizations-in-peru
 Yamin, A. E. (2016, May 3rd). In Memoriam: Giulia Tamayo, 1958-2014. Health and Human Rights Journal, 1-2. Retrieved from
http://www.hhrjournal.org/2014/09/in-memoriam-giulia-tamayo-1958-2014/