Thu Feb 13 05:22:53 UTC 2025: ## Peru’s Forced Sterilization Campaign: Victims Still Seeking Justice Decades Later
**Lima, Peru –** Decades after a state-sponsored campaign resulted in the forced sterilization of an estimated 270,000 women in Peru, victims are still fighting for justice and reparations. The campaign, which took place during the 1990s under the rule of former President Alberto Fujimori, targeted primarily rural and Indigenous women.
The United Nations has condemned the campaign as a “systematic and generalized attack” against these women, stating that the sterilizations were performed without their informed consent. Many victims, often lacking education and Spanish proficiency, were coerced, pressured, or deceived into undergoing the procedures. Eighteen women died as a result of the surgeries.
Florentina Loayza, 46, recounts how she was sterilized at age 19, a procedure that led to the abandonment by her partner and lasting physical pain. Maria Elena Carbajal, 55, shares a similar experience, having been sterilized while giving birth in a public hospital. Both women now actively advocate for victims’ rights, highlighting not only the physical scars but also the emotional trauma and abandonment caused by the forced sterilizations.
A Peruvian court ruled in 2023 that these sterilizations were part of official public policy, ordering compensation and healthcare access for the victims. However, the UN continues to urge the Peruvian state to accelerate investigations, provide financial compensation, and implement a comprehensive reparation program including psychological support. Fujimori, who died last September, was never tried for his role in the campaign. The stories of Loayza and Carbajal serve as powerful reminders of the long-lasting impact of this human rights abuse.
First Piper 