Peruvian activists fight for forcibly sterilized women
Peruvian activists fight for forcibly sterilized women
Wed Dec 14, 2016 | 2:00am EST
By Sophie Davies
LIMA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Feminist activists in Peru are fighting a government decision to stop investigating claims by women who say they were forcibly sterilized, arguing that thousands of women deserve to have their cases heard.
Some 350,000 women were sterilized in the mid-1990s under a program promoted by former president Alberto Fujimori, who argued a lower birth rate was crucial to eliminating poverty in Peru.
Many were sterilized without their knowledge and consent, and those who refused were often threatened with a fine or prison, say activists who view the campaign as one of Peru's biggest human rights scandals.
. . .
Many of the women sterilized were indigenous peasants from the nation's poorest areas. Those who signed consent forms in Spanish were illiterate and spoke only the indigenous Quechua language, rights groups say.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-peru-women-sterilisation-idUSKBN1430JQ?rpc=401&