What Do We Mean When We Talk About Justice for Women in Peru?

““If a pair of red knickers can make a difference to a rape case in Peru’s justice system, we must ask ourselves: exactly what underwear colour should women wear in order to be believed when we are raped? ”

By Lara Salvatierra

All eyes are currently on Peru and the political chaos caused by a coup by the Congreso de la República (the Republic’s Congress). Many women’s groups and feminist organisations have taken to the streets in defence of democracy…  when I say democracy, you have to understand, I don’t mean those who are, or have been, in charge of implementing Peru’s laws - because if the women of Peru know anything, it’s that our authorities fail to respect our most basic and fundamental rights. I speak of true democracy.

The Peruvian political class boasts about its GDP successes, about sustained growth, about being the gastronomical capital of the region, about Machu Picchu, about our dreamlike beaches and a huge ‘etcetera’. It distracts attention from Peru’s structural problem: male violence against women. 

In absolutely every social sphere, we can see a toxic ‘machismo’ corrupting everything.  It’s obvious to many that the current social crisis is due to this ‘machismo.’ Generally speaking, Peru is patriarchy’s favoured son, and it’s time we began to call it out.

I am not going to analyse almost 200 years of life as a Republic here. It takes only a few examples to help us understand that Peru’s government organisations, democratically designed to protect the application of laws and protect the rights of citizens (which clearly includes women), have not only fermented economic inequality, but have also perpetuated misogyny and the subordination of women, keeping them as second-class citizens in a country that already lacked equality.

During the pandemic, it was big companies that received the first economic help.  For CONFIEP (the National Confederation of Private Business Institutions), it was as if the pandemic never happened. Yet the informal labour market in Peru accounts for 73% of the working population, 60% of whom are women.

One of the few activities which didn’t stop during the crisis was mining, which feeds economic inequality. Private companies, with the State’s blessing, helped themselves to resources in zones where populations not only subsisted on agriculture, but saw their environment so destroyed that they have to move away or accept informal mining work, with all the terrible conditions it entails. The people there have no alternative but to accept this work - most have not even completed primary (elementary) school.  Moreover, feminists have demonstrated, over a long period of time, backed by investigation after investigation, that mining creates the perfect façade for trafficking women and girls into prostitution rings. In mining camps, foreigners habitually buy their way into the bodies of impoverished women, and informal mine workers do the same.

At this juncture, there’s a further concern for Peruvian women. The same old misogynistic brotherhood - fat bellied, balding bigots with overly hairy chests – have not only nailed down their own positions of power, but have also successfully built a corrupt, misogynistic system which operates almost on autopilot, despite the efforts of feminist groups who continue to fight tirelessly to break these structures.

Being a woman in Peru and facing the legal system is a nightmare. Rape culture is so normalised that it seems to override any fundamental rights. Just one example of the patriarchal justice system that marks Peru is the judgement by the Ica Collegiate, which absolved Giancarlo Miguel Espinoza Ramos, (22), who was accused of rape in the Los Aquijes district.

In the arguments absolving Espinoza Ramos, the transitory criminal court of the South Zone, which issued the judgement, stated that despite the “passive attitude” of the victim, “she was predisposed to have sexual relations with the accused”, because she was wearing feminine red underwear that day. 

“My underwear is not an invitation for rape”

The claimant was revictimized by this, and also by sexist stereotypes which are to blame for the lack of any feminist interpretation of the law. As a bare minimum, the law should respect the rights of women based on sex. The witness’ statements were completely disregarded, simply because the woman wore red knickers. 

If a pair of red knickers can make a difference to a rape case in Peru’s justice system, we must ask ourselves: exactly what underwear colour should women wear in order to be believed when we are raped? 

When will the justice system in Peru stop judging women and start judging rapists? 

What has to happen for the Justice system to respect Peruvian women’s lives?

However outrageous this situation is, it doesn’t end there. The judgement also questioned the claimant’s mother for not knowing that her daughter wasn’t home, and for not going to pick her up at the right time - the accused only lived a few doors away. The accused’s testimony was accepted unquestioningly. He said that he’d been accused out of pure spite “because the claimant asked for them to become boyfriend and girlfriend”, and he refused. 

We already know just how much, in patriarchal societies, a man’s word is valued as far more important than any tangible proof a woman might have. Espinoza Ramos was absolved, and the case closed and archived.

Press treatment of the news yet again re-victimised the claimant, with reporters using sexist language to talk about how this was “a judgement by women” because the decision was taken by two women and a man, so they generalised using the feminine version of judge. In the Spanish language, as in many Latin languages, things are described as masculine and feminine, but just as in English the word actress doesn’t need to be used, actor is more than adequate, there was no need to feminise the judge. But in patriarchal relationships, we women are guilty by default of everything, including societal sexism.

Yet despite of this, feminists set the web alight with an intense social media pushback and also protests outside the courthouse in Ica. Women wore red underwear over their clothes and formed a red chain with them around the courthouse.

The Public Ministry asked for the judgement to be voided via a Twitter account, as did the Ministry for Women, reminding that judgement of sexual offences cannot be based on the victim’s behaviours.

Peru remains unchanged despite being about to reach it’s bi-centenary. It is thanks to the women who fight daily, both against the power structures which self-perpetuate over time and against misogyny, that social chaos has unleashed. Included in their targets is the misogynistic, corrupt and anachronistic justice system. 

Adriana Peralta, 12 November 2020

Milagros Castillo, 13 November 2020

Our battle cry “Out with the corrupt!” is accompanied by citizens’ demands for more feminism within our institutions. Peruvian women are demanding a justice system which guarantees that our rights will be respected. 

We can only achieve true independence when society acknowledges the importance of feminism both in our everyday lives, and in demolishing the misogynistic brotherhood that keeps our longed-for freedom for women and girls at bay.

Post scriptum

1. On Sunday, November 15th, 2020 interim president Manuel Merino de Lama resigned due to mass protests throughout Peru, in which the police murdered and abused young people in an attempt to suppress the demonstrations.

2. On Tuesday, November 17th the new president Francisco Sagasti was elected by the Peruvian Congress, was sworn in.

3. The judges of the resolution of the red underwear have been suspended.

Lara Salvatierra is a Peruvian philosopher, writer, and activist specializing in women's studies. She is a member of the Frente Feminista Radical Perú and representative of Peru of the Campaign for Women's Human Rights. Globetrotter by nature and full-time feminist.