Forced sterilisation and reproductive justice in Peru

Principal Investigator

(opens in a new window)Dr Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila

Email: (opens in a new window)ernesto.vasquezdelaguila@ucd.ie

Photo by DEMUS. A demonstration in Lima to denounce forced sterilisations.

Project description

It is estimated that more than 200,000 women were sterilised without giving free, prior and informed consent in Peru between 1996 and 2000 during the Fujimori regime. This project places forced sterilisation within the frameworks of precarity and reproductive justice to understand policies that legitimised the violation of women's rights irrespective of the type of political regime: forced sterilisations during a dictatorial regime and denial of access to sexual and reproductive rights during a period of democracy.

Aims and Methods

Through document analysis, this research examines narratives around sterilisation and reproduction produced by policymakers, political and religious leaders and health care practitioners during these two political periods. It also examines the continuity of the struggle that marginalised populations face in exercising their reproductive rights in the context of symbolic and structural inequalities.

Outputs and Publications

Ernesto Vasquez Del Aguila (2020) Precarious Lives: Forced sterilisation and the struggle for reproductive justice in Peru, Global Public Health, DOI: (opens in a new window)10.1080/17441692.2020.1850831