WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT, MODERNITY, AND STERILIZATION IN PERU, UNDER ALBERTO FUJIMORI'S DICTATORSHIP FROM 1990 - 2000

In summary, this thesis brings together historical events that have typically been analyzed as separate, unrelated episodes in Peruvian historiography. An examination of the principal crises preceding and unfolding during Fujimori’s presidency reveals that issues were frequently studied in isolation. Women’s rights, economic decline, political instability, rural insurgency, and military abuses were profoundly interconnected, creating the perfect conditions for the armed forces and the Peruvian government to target the poor and vulnerable populations as the cause of governmental failures.

The first examines Alan Garcia’s concluding years in the presidency. It explores the state’s confrontation with internal insurgent movements, namely The Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and the Revolutionary Movement Túpac Amaru (MRTA), situating these conflicts within the broader context of Peru’s profound economic crisis and rapid, largely uncontrolled population growth. The second section of this thesis focuses on how women are not a homogeneous group in their pursuit of liberation from male-dominated systems of control. Although public discourse often portrays women as protective, nurturing, or inherently aligned with collective female interests, historical evidence suggests a more complex reality. The third and concluding section delves into the methods and mechanisms employed by the government and armed forces to carry out sterilization campaigns targeting poor and socially vulnerable communities.