Teresa, Marilia and María need you in their last stretch for justice

Let's show them that they are not alone, find out how to support them

During the armed conflict in Peru, thousands of women were victims of sexual violence by members of the army in different regions of the country. One of those places was Manta, in the Huancavelica region, where the victims were also teenagers, who now, as adults, continue to seek justice.

For 17 years, Demus has supported three of these Manta women in their fight for access to justice. In the month of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we invite you to join this fight. The women of Manta are close to hearing the historic sentence they have long awaited. At this stage, we need to raise $1,000 dollars to make their trip and stay in Lima possible so that they can be present at this sentence.

WHO IS DEMUS?

We are a Peruvian feminist organization that has been working for more than 36 years for the recognition and guarantee of gender equality, sexual and reproductive autonomy, access to justice and the human rights of women in all their diversity. To this end, we defend emblematic cases before national and international justice. At the national level, we defend victims of forced sterilizations committed during the Fujimori dictatorship, and sexual violations committed by the military in the community of Manta.

Our care model is interdisciplinary, so our professional team includes lawyers, psychologists, sociologists, social workers, and communicators.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP?

After supporting the women of Manta for 17 years, we need your help to continue the search for justice.

We are now in the final stretch. We need to raise $1,000 dollars so that María, Marilia and Teresa can be present at the reading of the sentence of the trial which, according to the court judges in charge of the case, will be in December of this year. Your support would make their trip and stay in Lima possible.

This sentence will have incalculable value for the lives of these women and the history of the country. After almost 40 years, María, Marilia and Teresa need to be present together and have closure in their fight. Of course, we hope for an exemplary sentence for the accused former soldiers and the Peruvian State for sexual violence during the armed conflict.

THE WHOLE HISTORY

During the armed conflict in Peru between 1980 and 2000, military bases were established which, far from protecting the civilian population, were the scene of human rights violations against thousands of people: torture, assassinations, disappearances, sexual violence, among others.

In 1984, a military base was installed in Manta, Huancavelica region. As often happens in conflicts, the women suffered humiliations that went through the most intimate parts of their bodies: they were regularly raped by the military. Many of them were Quechua-speaking peasant teenagers who became forcibly pregnant because of the abuse they experienced. These crimes placed Huancavelica as one of the five regions in the country with the highest number of reported cases of sexual violence during those years. The Manta community became a controlled town where men, women and children did not have freedoms and rights.

In 2003, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission indicated in its final report that 83% of these crimes were perpetrated by the army and the police, while 17% were perpetrated by members of subversive groups. In many cases, army officers not only knew about this practice, but encouraged it.

It was within this context in 2006, that the Demus team set out to reach Manta to meet the women of the community and respond to the impacts of the armed conflict. After a while, in one of those meetings, a woman - in her early 30s - approached the team and, although filled with fear, managed to share her testimony of sexual violence. Other women followed her example. A year later, in 2007, nine women decided to start their fight for access to justice against former army soldiers and against the Peruvian State itself for the crime of sexual assault during the armed conflict. Three of these women are being sponsored and accompanied by Demus.

Unfortunately, almost 40 years have passed since the events occurred and the Peruvian army continues to deny them, suggesting that they were consensual relationships and that, in other cases, the accused were not at the scene when these crimes occurred.

With the trial underway since 2019, and a sentence imminent, we at Demus maintain our purpose of accompanying these women in their judicial process, and ensuring they have the opportunity to be present at every stage by all means possible.