Every day in Peru, women who seek help at public healthcare services for an abortion end up being reported and criminally prosecuted by the justice system, according to a study by Proyecta Igualdad titled Cruelty Made Routine: The Criminalization of Abortion in Peru (2012–2022).
The investigation reveals that between 2012 and 2022, 9,962 women were criminally prosecuted for voluntary abortion—an average of 1,000 criminalized women per year.
The primary victims are young women: 78% are between 18 and 30 years old. Furthermore, 71% live in poverty or extreme poverty; only one reported a monthly income exceeding S/ 1,000, while eight had no income at all.
Additionally, 77% have only a basic education, 88% are single, and 100% had no prior criminal record.
According to the study, this situation proves that public hospitals have become the first link in the criminalization of abortion for pregnant women in vulnerable situations, explains Brenda Álvarez, lawyer, president of Proyecta Igualdad, and one of the study’s researchers.
‘Medical staff interrogate, intimidate, and report women with obstetric emergencies, exposing them to criminal proceedings without guarantees,’ she details.
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS
Álvarez specifies that, according to Public Ministry figures, of the nearly 10,000 criminal proceedings for voluntary abortion between 2012 and 2022, the most recorded offense was self-induced abortion, with 9,845 cases. There were also 96 proceedings for abortion in cases of sexual violence or eugenics, and 21 for therapeutic abortion, despite the latter being legal in Peru—demonstrating an arbitrary application of the law.
‘It is urgent to stop the persecution of abortion to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health services for women in vulnerable situations. Hospitals must not cease to be safe spaces of care,’ the researcher notes. After analyzing 100 judicial rulings and 15 criminal files, the study identifies ‘a systematic pattern of due process violations, stigmatization, threats, and misuse of evidence,’ she adds.
According to the study, 84% of criminal proceedings began in public hospitals when women sought care for bleeding, hemorrhaging, or miscarriages, among other issues. Seventy-one percent of the reports came from healthcare personnel. Moreover, in many cases, professional confidentiality and patient integrity were violated.
Women prosecuted for self-induced abortion face criminal proceedings lasting an average of 32 months. In many instances, these cases are upheld without solid evidence or legal backing: 6 out of 10 prosecuted women end up convicted; 1 in 3 cases continued despite the statute of limitations having expired; and 1 in 4 proceedings should never have been initiated due to a lack of evidence.
Furthermore, the study indicates that the abortions were often the result of sexual violence, were legal therapeutic abortions, or involved errors in the legal classification of the crime.
