Forced sterilization in Peru

Forced sterilization in Peru
Part of Peruvian Civil War of 1980–2000
Location Peru
Belligerents
Government of Peru ↳ via Ministry of Health  Peruvian Armed Forces	Shining Path
Casualties and losses
At least 300,000 Peruvians sterilized

Alberto Fujimori's government used forced sterilization to control the population of impoverished and indigenous women in Peru, mainly in rural Andean communities. This practice was part of the state-led National Population Program, which emerged from the military's Plan Verde, initially aimed at economic recovery and combating the Shining Path insurgency. The sterilization campaign in Peru was the largest state-led population control program in the Americas.^[1] The program has been widely condemned as a form of ethnic cleansing or genocide due to its disproportionate impact on rural and indigenous peoples.^{[note 1]}

The roots of this program can be traced back to population control measures and eugenics theories that emerged in Peru during the early 20th century. These measures evolved significantly under the Fujimori government, which privately justified sterilizations as a means to alleviate poverty and improve resource distribution by reducing birth rates among "culturally backward" and economically disadvantaged groups, but publicly claimed to give more "choice" in reproductive planning to rural and indigenous peoples—successfully hijacking the feminist movement by hiding neo-Malthusian agenda behind growing demands for reproductive rights.

Despite claims of voluntary participation, many women were often sterilized without their informed consent, under threat, and sterilizations in exchange for food and medical care were common. This forced sterilization campaign had lasting socioeconomic and health consequences in the affected communities. The program decimated rural economies, exacerbated poverty, and led to widespread human rights abuses. Efforts to bring justice to the victims have faced numerous obstacles, including government resistance and legal challenges. Although international and national bodies have condemned the actions as crimes against humanity, accountability and reparations for the victims remain limited.

Peruvian researcher Alejandra Ballón Gutiérrez argues that forced sterilization in Peru functioned as "a weapon of war and an instrument of torture against women and indigenous populations",^[3] with their reproductive capacity considered a threat to national stability due to the association of peasants with communist guerrilla groups by the military during the Peruvian Civil War of 1980–2000, as outlined in Plan Verde.^[1] As a result, forced sterilizations have been characterized as a counterinsurgency tactic by the military aimed at controlling populations perceived as aligned with insurgent forces.^[3][4][5][2]

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