Introduction to the Peru Site
of the Global Feminisms Project
Shelly Grabe
These interviews were conducted in 2020 via Zoom, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The women selected to represent activism within the feminist movement in Perú were identified by Diana Miloslavich Túpac, the Director of Flora Tristán – one of the most prominent women’s organizations in Perú. The women interviewed reflect the multicultural and intersectional approach to gender equity in Perú that places value on difference. The interviewees have diverse backgrounds that reflect the complex identities and positions included in the feminist movement: indigenous leaders, scholars, congresswomen, directors of key feminist organizations, obstetricians, scholars, trans activists, and youth leaders. The women ranged in age from early 30s to their 70s at the time of the interview.
Resources
This timeline has been prepared by Macy Afsari, Maddie House, and Hanna Smith for the Global Feminisms Project during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Overview of the Peru Site and Interviews
The women’s social movement in Perú emerged, like many other Latin American social movements, in the 1970s and 1980s in the context of military-backed rule and armed conflict. Following the election of a civilian president in 1980, political parties of a New Left emerged in Perú driven by liberation theology. However, like many socialist movements at the time, as social class issues rose to the surface, women’s issues were side-lined to the interests of the male-dominated party politics. As a result, many women left the party to form consciousness-raising groups and organizations centered on the advancement of women – forming the backbone of a women’s social movement. Two of the most important women’s organizations within the feminist movement in Perú date back to 1979 and 1980, respectively, the Flora Tristán Center for Peruvian Women and the Manuela Ramos Movement; both organizations being founded by women who defected from party militancy to focus on feminist activism as a means to enact social change. The Director of the Flora Tristán Center was the community collaborator for the Global Feminisms Project Perú site and her interview is included in this archive.
The women’s movement in Perú emerged in tandem with international awareness and support of women’s human rights that was initiated when the United Nations declared 1975 the beginning of the Women’s Decade. Throughout that decade, gendered projects expanded throughout Latin America with activists undertaking a specifically feminist vision of politics, culture, and society. One example was the regional Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentros – or conferences – which began in 1981 and were held every few years to develop a meeting space for feminist activists to strategize ways of eliminating various forms of marginalization and oppression experienced by women. The 2nd regional Encuentro was held in Lima, Perú in 1983. This meeting set the stage for a “theoretical understanding of Latin American patriarchy in all of its material, ideological, cultural, linguistic, institutional, and sexual expressions, deepening and advancing the movement’s analysis of gender power relations and how these intersected with other relations of power in Latin American societies.” (Sternbach et al., 1992; p. 412).
Read More...By 1991 historian, scholar, and feminist activist Virginia Vargas described the women’s movement in Perú as “one of the largest on the continent, possibly having the most diversified expression and organisations.” As part of collective organizing efforts among women, in 1996 the Peruvian state established a women’s ministry as the governing body on national policies for women (Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations; MIMP). Coordinated efforts within the women’s social movement have led to ground-breaking advances in recent years. In April 2019, the MIMP published Perú’s National Gender Equality Policy (Decree 008) with the strategic goals to eliminate structural discrimination in areas related to the determinants of gender inequity. For example, there are specific goals aimed at reducing violence against women, guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health rights, and reducing institutional barriers existing in the public and private spheres between women and men. The effect of the Peruvian National Gender Equality Policy has already been witnessed. In June 2020 the Peruvian Congress passed a ground-breaking Gender Parity Law (Law No. 31030) requiring that, beginning in 2021, 50% of all candidates seeking election in public office be women.
The women documented in this archive articulate how activities and social experiences from their various backgrounds have shaped their activism and contributed to the social change witnessed in Perú. The standpoints represented in this movement underscore how diverse histories and experiences are important to the demand of social, cultural, governmental, and organizational transformations related to the advancement of women.
Procedures for Producing Final Interview Videos and Transcripts
The interviews for the Perú site occurred in Spanish via Zoom during the COVID pandemic. The interviewer was a Lima-based activist, documentary director, and professor whose own work is focused on gender justice. The interviews lasted approximately an hour and the transcripts are reproduced in full (i.e., unedited).
The Perú country site interviews were completed with a generous project grant from the University of Michigan Humanities Collaboratory.
