Around the world in 1100 words | The Peruvian Debacle
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In this and the future (not necessarily subsequent) editions of POPCON, on popular demand, we bring to the reader political controversies on birth control from around the world. The case materials in question are convincing enough to make a sane being shy away from the thought of reproduction. Still, our heartfelt sympathies for the non-believers.
The Peruvian Debacle
“A nurse put me on a stretcher and tied my hands and feet. I asked them to bring me my little baby girl but instead they anesthetized me. When I woke up, the doctor was stitching my stomach. I started screaming, I knew I had been sterilized.”— Sabina Huillca
In 1995, Alberto Fujimori (藤森 謙也), the then-president of Peru, met with feminists in the UN Women’s Conference held in Beijing and announced a major change in Peruvian contraception laws by allowing women to get tubectomies done without the permission of their husbands. This marked the beginning of the ‘Voluntary Surgical Contraception Program‘. In February 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) congratulated Fujimori on his success in liberalizing Peruvian laws and controlling demographic growth.
In an inquiry initiated by the Peruvian health minister Luis Solari, it was found out that the Voluntary Surgical Contraception Program systematically victimized the indigenous populace of Peru living in deprived areas that were often in internal conflict with the administration. 272,000 women and 22,004 men were sterilized between 1996 and 2000. A large share of sterilizations performed on women didn’t involve their consent, and often their knowledge. In many cases, the patients didn’t speak enough Spanish to understand what they were consenting to, if at all they were asked for it. Doctors were required to meet quotas of the number of sterilizations performed.
Fujimori was charged with crimes against humanity and corruption. He sought refuge in Japan and tried to resign via fax. However, the Congress of the Republic rejected his resignation as it preferred to depose him through impeachment. He was finally seized in Chile and faced trial in Peru, becoming the first elected head of state to be extradited to his home country, tried and convicted of human rights violation.
The silver lining
Chirapaq, an organization founded by Andean and Amazonian women in 1986, aims at protecting indigenous rights and strengthening indigenous identity. The organization has held training camps in a number of cities across Peru to educate the locals about their basic rights and introduce to them a forum where they can openly discuss sexual and reproductive health.
The episode of administrative arbitrariness also led to the filing of the first ever case against the Government of Peru by a lawyer and human rights activist, Giulia Tamayo, who was investigating the death of an irresponsibly sterilized woman. A new telephone line, coined The Quipu Project, has been instituted for people to call and leave messages describing their horrifying experiences. The messages are recorded and saved to an online interactive documentary with English subtitles.
Conclusion
The Voluntary Surgical Contraception Program preferentially persecuted two social groups: the impoverished indigenous Peruvians and women, thereby failing as a ‘voluntary’ initiative on two counts. Obtention of permanent or surgical contraception by men has been historically low. Women continue to carry the burden of contraception in many parts of the world. This can be largely attributed to a number of myths and misconceptions surrounding male contraception. An obvious solution to the problem is myth-busting and increasing the number of male contraception techniques to suit various needs.
On the other hand, birth control programs around the world have often gravitated toward the poor and impoverished classes. This has been seen by many as an attempt to selectively promote the procreation between individuals with more socially ‘desirable’ traits, a movement known as the Eugenics drive. While ethical questions continue to abound the subject of artificial genetic enhancement, ‘eugenics’ has already been practiced by a large number of states in some form or the other.
The assumption of women and the not so well-off classes of the society not being capable of standing up against injustices done to them has been falsified. The Peruvian Debacle might have attenuated the reproductive capabilities of the indigenous people; however, through collective suffering, they have emerged stronger than ever.
Reader’s Takeaway
People who have known us even for a short amount of time are familiar with our affinity with dark humour. The dearth of any humour, not necessarily dark, in the post is understandable, given the context. However, in order to reward our readers for being able to barely drag themselves to the end of the blog, with it seemingly taking a lifetime to finish, thereby exhibiting undaunted courage and playing the model reader; and to demonstrate to those who chickened out after reading the first few lines, the sweet fruit and shade lies at the end of the scorched path; we now make an attempt to stimulate the (by now dead) model reader’s brain with a barrage of morbid comedy.
___
“Tell me a joke.”
“Nah. You’ll freak out.”
“A joke, not a horror story.”
“How many babies does it take to paint a wall red?”
“Uhm … don’t know.”
“Depends on how hard you throw them.”
The early 1960s Second-wave Feminism in the United States saw the rise of a new class of black comedy: Dead Baby Jokes. The feminist movement sought the legalization of contraceptives and abortion. Consequently, “to fight the fear of pregnancy and ease the guilt of abortion, young people told dead-baby jokes. Babies, once dehumanized, could be laughingly destroyed.”
Originally published at populationcontrolweb.wordpress.com on August 29, 2017.
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