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With profound concern, CLADEM - Peru advises the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of the failure of the Peruvian state to comply fully with its international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter, the Convention). This situation also implies a disavowal of the international consensus reached at Vienna (1993), Cairo (1994), Copenhagen (1995), Beijing (1995) and New York (2000) with respect to recognition and exercise of the women’s human rights.

The Peruvian state’s failure to comply with the Convention arises, in particular, in the area of sexual and reproductive rights, given that it maintains and encourages policies and practices that discriminate against and cause violence to women. Therefore, the main purpose of this Alternative Report is to provide an account of the issues surrounding the recognition and exercise of those rights in conjunction with the rights to life, to equality and freedom from discrimination, to liberty, and to health contained in Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 14 of the Convention.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the interpretative frameworks of the General Observations and Specific Recommendations made by the Committee to the Peruvian State, so as to contrast it with the Official Report and the Review of the Committee’s Observations.

CLADEM-Peru, as an association of NGOs and individuals, submits this Alternative Report in order to contribute to the necessary changes, so that the Committee can make its evaluation, propose the recommendations it deems necessary, and help achieve unconstrained respect and effective protection for women’s human rights in Peru.

Between 1998 and 2002 Peru underwent a change in its political regime and a return to democracy in 2001. The consequences of the Fujimori regime, with its authoritarian and dictatorial style of government, as well as high levels of corruption in various government departments, including the Judiciary, the Legislative Branch, the electoral authorities, among others, were felt in almost all the country's democratic institutions. All of this was coupled with deepening poverty, cliental manipulation of welfare programs, and the emergence of initiatives such as anti-poverty tables. This report was written in this context of a corrupt administration, struggle for democracy, and democratic transition.

The struggle for democracy brought the downfall of Fujimori and a change of political regime, and included the massive participation of women. However, as with other democratic transitions, women were again excluded from the transition process. The impact of the predominant role played by women in the dictatorship has led, among other consequences, to the strengthening of conservative groups in politics and to a democratic transition that puts many women's conquests at risk.

The body that supervises policy in the areas of gender equality and equal opportunities was on the brink of disappearing from the State apparatus. From March to July 2002 women's organizations have exerted strong pressure through sit-ins, mobilization, advocacy and lobbying measures, and public announcements urging approval for the now-called Ministry for Women and Social Advancement in the amended Organic Law of the Executive Branch. Furthermore, the National Agreement includes Policy No. 11 on promotion of equal opportunity without discrimination. Under this policy the Peruvian state undertakes to give effective priority to promotion of equal opportunities and to combat all forms of discrimination; however, it has failed to adopt the objectives and short-and long-term goals proposed in the National Agreement on Governance process.

Chapter XIV of the Constitution on the decentralization framework for the country has been reformed. The new chapter provides how the decentralization process should proceed and includes minimum participation quotas for women and indigenous people. We will monitor compliance with these requirements and report on them in the next report. We shall also monitor the issue of decentralization of basic health services.

The Committee has recommended, as a matter of priority, the inclusion in gender equality programs of a component to promote the gradual elimination of such harmful stereotypes, and a general awareness-raising campaign to eradicate them. however, in the framework of the new Policy Guidelines for the council met a health Sector the program on Women, have to latter health and Development has been closed down. The program was managed since 1990 by the Planning Bureau as part of and was one of the technical cooperation programs financed by PAHO/WHO as part of and a strategy to raise awareness in this sector on the issue of women's health with a gender expected. In this regard, the Ministry of Health has argued:

"Bearing in mind that the general objective of the Program on Women, Health, and Development is for the health sector to contribute to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women as factors that contribute to the deterioration of their health and that of their families; and that the specific objectives of the program are, inter alia, to promote gender mainstreaming in all programs, projects, and activities in the area of women's health, we consider that this gender perspective is not in keeping with the policy guidelines of the health sector; furthermore, the principles of equality, universality and solidarity enshrined in Law 26842 (Health Act) do not allow for programs with a gender perspective, since such programs prioritize some persons for health care while excluding others."

In the Constitution the Peruvian state acknowledges special status for the Catholic Church as an "important element in the historic, cultural, and moral formation of Peru, and it offers it its collaboration." Accordingly, the influence of the Catholic Church is reflected in the actions of the state restricting the sexual and reproductive rights of women.

The constitutional reform bill is currently before the Congress for consideration. CLADEM-Peru has submitted a proposal based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination; recognition of sexual and reproductive rights; and affirmation of the lay state. The proposal also supports recognition of constitutional rank for international treaties, which currently only have the rank of law. 

This report examines these problems under four main sections: Sexual violence; contraception and family planning; Abortion and maternal mortality; Prostitution and trafficking in women.

Sexual violence is covered by the Criminal Code under Violation of Sexual Liberty. The basic description of the crime states that "Anyone who by means of violence or serious threats forces a person to engage in sexual intercourse or other related acts will be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than four years nor more than eight years. If the violation is carried out by a person with a weapon or by two or more individuals the penalty shall be not less than eight years nor more than 15 years." Despite the scope of this provision, under the prevailing jurisprudence, sexual intercourse with physical violence is only punished when there has been penile penetration.

The lack of categorization of other sexual conducts has led to a restricted jurisprudential interpretation, leaving in impunity rapists who use other methods to abuse their victims, such as insertion in genitalia of fingers or other objects, and there is a reluctance to include them in the related acts for which this legal norm provides.

The Criminal Code also punishes the offense of corruption (that is, when deception is considered to be involved) of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 16. The most worrying thing is that acts of sexual violence are cloaked as "corruption of minors" when the victim belongs to this age group.

The crime of indecent assault is defined as that which is committed without the intention of practicing sexual intercourse. However, that definition is seriously flawed. For one thing, to refer to decency, as a legally protected interest and an abstract or moral concept, conceals the real nature of the attack on the physical integrity and personal freedom of the individual. For another thing, it offers the assailant an opportunity to evade the punishment for attempted rape and receive a lighter punishment.

Incest is not specifically criminalized. It is prosecuted as a crime of violence against sexual liberty in which the existence of a family tie is an aggravating circumstance.

Sexual harassment is a serious offence under the labor laws but is not a criminal offence.

In recent years the treatment of sex crimes has undergone some changes for the better:

In 1997, the provision that exempted the rapist from punishment if they married their victim was abolished.

In 1999 the Code of Criminal Procedure was changed to include protection measures and comprehensive care for victims under the age of 18 who give evidence about facts to the Prosecutor for Family Matters, which they need do on a single occasion only. The provision also prohibits confrontation between assailant and victim when the latter is under 14, as well as their attendance at the reconstruction of the events. However, the Supreme Court does not observe these norms.

Other changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure are that the state prosecutor is the authority that brings the public criminal action in all cases of sexual violence, even when the victim is an adult, and that the identity of the victim is kept secret in the criminal proceeding. The above norm also provides that the forensic examination shall be performed with the victim's consent and only by the physician responsible for that service with the aid of a professional assistant.

The Domestic Violence Act has been amended to recognize sexual violence as a modality of domestic violence.

In 2001 a stiffer criminal penalty was introduced for sexual violence against minors under 18 when the victim has family ties to the rapist. However, in a ruling in one case, the Supreme Court reduced the sentence, arguing that, while the assailant was the victim’s uncle, "the latter did not have authority over her, particularly since the minor had placed her trust in him", on which basis the Court did not regard the family tie as an aggravating circumstance.

The various public agencies are still not specifically targeting the problem of sex crimes. This year and act was passed creating temporary shelters for at-risk or neglected minors.

In spite of the observations made by the Committee to the previous Official Report and to the current Review of Observations, the Government has not provided statistical data nor mentioned policies or measures adopted to deal with problem of sexual violence. The data supplied only concern the issue of domestic violence.

An study was conducted on representative sample of women aged 25 to 49 from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The study was based on interviews with 1,414 women in Metropolitan Lima and 1,837 in Cuzco and produced alarming results:

In Lima and Cuzco 10.3% and 11.3%, respectively had experienced sexual violence.

In Lima and Cuzco 22.5% and 46.6%, respectively suffered sexual violence at the hands of their partner.

In Lima and Cuzco 20% reported that they were sexually abused as children. Under the age of 15 the assailant is most commonly a male relative who is not their father or stepfather, and in second place a person unknown to them.

In Lima and Cuzco 10% suffered sexual violence after the age of 15 by a person who was not their partner. The assailant is usually a relative, friend or boyfriend.

There are obstacles within the justice system that discourage women from reporting sex attacks. These obstacles have not been overcome, since the institutions concerned, such as the police, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, and the Judiciary fail properly to carry out their duties to protect the victim, investigate the crime, and punish the rapist.

From 1997 to 2000 the number of complaints of crimes against sexual liberty reported at the police stations of Metropolitan Lima were 4,807, 4,677, 5,762 and 6,096, respectively. Though high these figures do not reflect the real dimension of the problem. Estimates made by women’s rights organizations calculate that in 1997 there were 19,332 victims of sexual violence between the ages of 14 and 50 in Metropolitan Lima. Most cases of sexual violence are not reported.

The duty of the state to investigate includes the obligation to perform a proper forensic examination. In 1999, the Department of Planning and Statistics of the Attorney General's Office reported that the Institute of Forensic Medicine examined 3,621 persons, of whom 3,204 were female and 417 male. Since the legally protected interest is sexual liberty it is surprising that the records should still include the obsolete term, sexual honor. Of this figure, 1,548 were examinations of women for violation of their "sexual honor", 98 cases of violation against "nature", 121 cases of violation "with injuries" and 119 cases of abortion.

It is also surprising that the same source reports that 1,735 examinations produced a negative result, which obviously led the complaints filed by the same number of people to be closed permanently. These data are particularly indicative of the traditional, biased, and stereotypical perceptions of the doctors involved with respect to the nature of these crimes. The above calls into question the "negative results" for women who supposedly had no signs of physical violence, as can occur with those who have had prior sexual experience.

It is cause for grave concern that the procedure followed by the police and the Institute of Forensic Medicine should serve to screen complaints. This situation must be corrected. Few police complaints in which there has been a forensic examination lead to criminal charges at the Attorney General's Office. This entity only record 599 cases in 1996. The following year the number increased by 20.9%, in other words, to 758 cases. From January to October 1998, there were 528 criminal complaints alleging violation of sexual liberty, making an average of 53 cases per month.

One can deduce that in other cases victims do not persist with complaints because they do not feel that their rights are ensured under the criminal laws in force, not to mention the widespread lack of confidence in the administration of justice in Peru. Offensive, discriminatory, and humiliating treatment during the police investigation and the long and aggravating criminal proceeding is another major reason for this situation.

We had access to 34 cases of sex crimes in which the Supreme Court of Justice issued a final decision between January and May 2002. Of this number, there were only 18 convictions. By contrast, in eight cases the judgment of the appeal court was overturned and the accused acquitted, based on contradictions made by the victims and lack of evidence.

The courts consider it necessary for the victim to display physical injuries or rupture of the hymen in order to warrant "criminal protection." In the absence of the foregoing most judges frequently doubt the victim's version, particularly in the case of women with an elastic hymen, which permits the insertion and removal of the penis, fingers or other objects without tearing. This finding occurs in many forensic examinations.

Justice operators, such as the police, judges, and prosecutors do not take into account the pressure of family members on the victim when the rapist is the father or a relative and is economically responsible for the family. Very often this leads victims to retract the accusation.

The high incidence of cases of rape and other sex crimes shows that the state has not been ensured full observance and exercise of women's human rights, in this case, their sexual rights. The state must implement the necessary laws and policies on behalf of victims of sexual violence proposed by women's rights organizations, in accordance with the undertaking given to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and under the Convention.

The 1993 Peruvian Constitution recognizes freedom of choice with respect to having children. The legal system provides that this freedom is recognized provided that conception has not occurred. Once they have conceived, women no longer have the right to choose.

The National Population Policy Act provides four important elements:

- The medical, educational, and family planning program information services ensure freedom of choice for couples and individuals with respect to the use of birth control and family planning methods.

- The Ministry of Health issues and supervises compliance with rules on authorization and use of family planning methods.

- Any attempt to coerce and manipulate persons with respect to family planning is prohibited, and public or private institutions are forbidden from attaching any condition to family planning programs.

- Abortion is not a family planning method.

In 1997 the General Health Act established the right of all persons to choose the contraception method that they preferred, including natural methods, and to receive prior to prescription or application of any contraceptive, adequate information about available methods, risks, contraindications, and any physical, physiological, psychological effects that their use or application may cause.

With respect to public policy on family planning, in July 2001 the Ministry of Health broadened the family planning norms by incorporating "Emergency Oral Contraception (EOC)" as an additional oral contraceptive method to the two already in existence (combined oral contraceptives and progestins-only oral contraceptives). Some months later, in a communiqué published in May 2002, the Ministry of Health announced that emergency oral contraceptives had not been implemented because there was a lack of clarity how they work and regarding the secondary effects and dangers that they might pose for human life. It should be mentioned that between the two dates cited the Toledo administration took over from the caretaker government.

In October 2001 the Congress approved the creation of a subcommittee to investigate irregularities under the Fujimori administration that occurred with respect to family planning policy in the area of voluntary surgical contraception, as well as violations of fundamental rights in the 1990-2000 period. In its final report this subcommittee found that during those ten years 314,605 women and 24,563 men were sterilized; female clients received fallopian tube ligations without their consent, under psychological duress, or in response to incentives in food, money or both; and written or verbal directives were issued that gave priority to surgical contraception over other family planning methods. It was also found that the implementation of the family planning program resulted in violations of people's physical and psychological integrity and personal liberty, as well as a selective reduction of births in a particular social group. This report has recommended the repeal of the law that approved inclusion of sterilization as a family planning method.

There are around 6.7 million women of reproductive age in Peru, amounting to 25% of the total population. Half of them (50.4%) are sexually active, including women who live with their partners (married and cohabiting) and single women who do not to live with a partner. Of the remainder, a review of exposure to pregnancy risk, desire not to have more children, and contraceptive prevalence reveals that around 25.5% (862,240) of women aged 15 to 49 are at risk of unwanted pregnancy.

Of the approximately one million pregnancies each year, 40% conclude in desired birth, 25% in undesired birth, and 35% in induced abortion. There has been a slight variation in termination of pregnancies compared to 1990, with an increase in the proportion of those that end in abortion from 30% to 35%; while the proportion of undesired births has decreased from 30% to 25%.

The overall fertility rate is 2.9 children per woman, which is higher than the number that women consider ideal (2.4). Approximately one million children (31% of births in the past five years) were born without their parents having wanted them.

Despite the concern expressed by the committee at the lack of information and lack of access to adequate contraception among poor women in urban and rural areas, there is a significant discrepancy between the rural fertility rate (4.3) and the urban fertility rate (2.2); these figures have remained virtually unchanged. Nevertheless, there has been a more rapid decline in the fertility rate in coastal areas and large cities, in particular Metropolitan Lima, which currently has a lower number of children per women (2) than other regions.

The health sector's family planning policy should take into account the public's perception of contraception use, given that much remains to be done, as demonstrated by the fact that the majority of the population (72.8%) does not currently think that Peruvian women have the number of children that they genuinely desire. The high fertility rate among women in highland, jungle, and rural areas, is not the result of their wishes, bearing in mind the average ideal number mentioned by them, but of limited contraceptive use.

There is unmet demand for contraceptive use among a significant proportion of women. In 1991, only 57% of women living with a partner used a contraceptive method compared to 64% in 1996 and 69% in 2000. This indicates that the number of women contraceptive users has not increased by the same proportion from one period to the next.

In response to the recommendations of the UN Committees (CEDAW and Human Rights) and the Report of the Special Rapporteur for Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the complaints about the family planning policy (VSC), the only recommendation made by the congressional subcommittee of inquiry was to abolish the norm that approves sterilization as a family planning method. In this way, the subcommittee skirts the real issue: discriminatory and illegal application of the family planning program. Forcible sterilization constitute a violation of women's human rights, women's organizations failed to denounce it in a timely fashion. However, the above should not be used as justification to eliminate VSC from the state's family planning services.

That the state is in breach of the Convention is shown by the above-mentioned communiqué eliminating access to emergency oral contraception. At the request of the Ministry of Health, the Peruvian Obstetric and Gynecological Society has issued an opinion on emergency oral contraceptives, saying that the way they act is to inhibit and delay ovulation, prevent fertilization, alter the migration of sperm, or the movement of sperm or ova along the fallopian tubes. The opinion also says that emergency oral contraceptives do NOT work once conception has occurred and, therefore, they are not an abortion method. To date, the state has not taken account of this opinion, which demonstrates that the health sector's policy under the current government restricts women's rights.

The Committee noted with concern that there is a close link between the number of abortions performed and the high maternal mortality rate in Peru. However, the legal framework on abortion has not only maintained its discriminatory and repressive treatment of women by making it a crime, but has worsened the situation. Public opinion is mainly (56.3%) inclined toward comprehension and support for women who have abortions, rather than imprisonment (29.2%).

The Constitution provides that all persons have the right to life and that the "fetus is entitled to all the rights that are in their interest".

The Civil Code provides that a "human life begins at conception; the fetus is entitled to all the rights in their interest; attribution of property rights is subject to their live birth".

The Code of Children and Adolescents, amended in July 2000, recognizes the fetus as a person, inasmuch as it defines the "child as any human being from the moment of conception...". Under this provision the possibility of giving priority to women’s rights is restricted because it accords equal status to the "person", namely the woman, and the "potential person", namely the fetus. This provision exceeds the scope of the Constitution and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Act passed this year declaring March 25 as the "Day of the Unborn Child" is a symbolic measure that blames women by turning society's back on those who for various reasons have an abortion.

The Committee has recommended that Peru review its law on abortion, as has the Human Rights Committee. However, the law criminalizing abortion is maintained and an increasingly large group of women are pushed to the so called fringes of criminality, because they are forced into contact with a world of clandestinity and high risk.

Therapeutic abortion is the only form of abortion that is not punishable. It is performed by a doctor with the consent of the pregnant women when it is the only way to save her life to prevent serious and permanent harm to higher health. The health code used to make it a requirement that therapeutic abortion had to be performed by a doctor and requires the favorable opinion of two other doctors. However, the General Health Act has abolished this provision and there are no rules in that respect. This situation would appear to be demonstrated by the fact that there are no statistics on the number of therapeutic abortions or on post-abortion care kept by public or private health services, unless they are recorded as gynecological health care or procedures.

The restrictions on abortion continue to generate controversy. Abortion of a pregnancy resulting from rape or artificial insemination without consent is punishable with three months in prison or a period of community service. The requirements to be met in this case are that it occurs out of wedlock; that it be reported or investigated, at least by the police; that it would be likely -according to a medical diagnosis- that the child would be born with a severe physical or mental handicap.

The Criminal Code recognizes the sexual liberty of the married woman by criminalizing marital rape. However, it does not recognize her sexual rights when it comes to abortion. If a woman is raped by a person who is not her spouse and has an abortion she may be punished with up to three months in prison. However, if she is raped by her spouse, her abortion is punishable with two years in prison. This is evidence of direct discrimination against the rights of a large segment of our population: married women.

In May 2002 a new provision was added to the Criminal Code that criminalizes "injury to the fetus", worsening further the situation of women in the event of an unwanted pregnancy, especially those with few resources. Application of this provision could even affect doctors who have to perform certain procedures, such as amniocentesis (aspiration of amniotic fluid for the purposes of performing tests during pregnancy).

The General Health Act provides that any doctor who gives medical assistance to a person who has undergone an abortion is required to advise the confidence of far too of that fact, in other words, to report it. This provision creates confusion with respect to the functions of health providers by requiring them to adopt a policing role that does not befit them.

B.- Non-compliance by the State with the Convention (Article 12 (1) and (2))

It is a matter of concern that the executive and legislative authorities should take the view that stiffer penalties might stop abortion, when it has been demonstrated that all that they do is encourage it as a dangerous, underground practice that harms women.

In Peru each year there are an estimated 352,000 abortions. The estimates suggest that there is one abortion for each live birth and there is a 5.2% probability that Peruvian women aged 15 to 49 will induce an abortion in themselves.

With respect to the estimated number of illegal abortions per year, the number of hospital admittances arising from abortion accounts for only one in seven abortions. The remainder never reaches health facilities and is not recorded in the statistics. The result is the subjection of women to inhuman treatment, which makes it necessary for the state to adopt a urgent measures to prevent the risk to their lives caused by the existence of legal provisions that restrict abortion.

This situation becomes even more alarming upon examination of the profile of women attended at public health facilities for complications arising from abortion. According to health statistics, a little over 62% of women who have abortions are under 30. Of those, 14% are under 20; 30% have no children and 60% have between one and four children; 83% of women who have abortions live in a steady relationship with a partner (either marriage (23%) or cohabitation (60%)), which refutes the claim that abortions are more frequent among single women.

The complications that may arise from induced abortions are diverse and vary in seriousness from minor complications, such as incomplete abortion, which can be treated without admission to hospital, to severe complications, such as death resulting from infection or hemorrhage. The latter is the most common complication, but the number of attended cases has diminished. It is estimated that only between 5% and 6% of cases of incomplete abortion attended at public hospitals are the result of infection. Maternal mortality has dropped from 400 to 185 per 100,000 live births in the country. Nevertheless, it remains one of the highest rates in Latin America. The adjusted (weighted) mortality rate is 18.3 per 100,000 women; the rate in 1996 was 31.6 per 100,000 women.

In Lima and the rest of the coastal region there are an estimated 100,000 abortions per year, compared to 114,000 in the highlands and 49,000 in the jungle. A little over one quarter (28%) of induced abortions are thought to occur in Metropolitan Lima; it is estimated that 26% occur in the rest of the coastal region, almost one-third in the highlands, and 14% in the jungle.

A 1998 study on use of Ministry of Health services at a sample of 18 private and public hospitals, which represent 4.5% of the country's hospitals (425 in total) found that out of a total of 7,604 cases, 855 cases per month involved hospital attention of incomplete abortions (11%). Extrapolation of this figure to all the hospitals in the country gives an approximate total of 18,333 abortions per month.

Outpatient care of uncomplicated incomplete abortion can be performed both by manual intrauterine aspiration (MIA) and by instrumental uterine curettage (IUC). However, it is a proven fact that the safest and most effective method is MEA because it causes less bleeding and pain, poses less risk of perforation and injury to the endometrium and, therefore, there is less possibility of intrauterine adhesions (Asherman's Syndrome), as well as avoiding the need for a local anesthetic. Despite widespread recognition of MEA the Ministry of Health has ordered that it be eliminated because in its opinion it is a technique that is still under review. This decision runs contrary to what the Peru's stated position when it says that due to "the protocolization of manual intrauterine aspiration (MEA) the complications arising from abortion are being attended at health facilities with the necessary promptness...".

In light of the above-described repressive framework of the Criminal Code, attention of incomplete abortion at health services is complicated by the requirements provided in the General Health Act, which expressly states that cases of criminal abortion are not covered by the rule of doctor patient confidentiality.

It is clear that the state, in addition to applying repressive measures against abortion, is implementing public policies that complicate even further the situation of women in these circumstances. The National Population Policy Act provides that the state will provide medical treatment and psychological and social assistance to women admitted with post-abortion complications at its health services. Regrettably, not only have post-abortion psychological and social services not been developed, but also clients say that they have were not well treated.

Prostitution is not a crime in Peru; however, pimping is. A policy of state regulation dates from 1910. It functioned it was supervised until 1983 by the Ministry of the Interior, which transferred to municipal governments the authority to grant licenses for brothels. Today there are diverse provisions of municipal rank setting out the requirements to be met for prostitution to be illegal. Regulated prostitution gives rise to a distinction between formal and informal prostitution. There are a large number of brothels throughout the country and thousands of women work as prostitutes.

Formal prostitution operates at establishments that obtain a municipal license to function as brothels and pay a special municipal tax. Legal prostitution is subject to the official state intervention. The municipalities of Lima, Chiclayo, and Chimbote -Santa claim to have established specific requirements for opening a legal brothel for which they charge a license fee. in 1997, according to information collected by the National Statistics Institute in 31 cities in Peru, there were 49 registered brothels in 23 cities. These 49 brothels had 1,246 rooms used for prostitution. There are eight legal brothels in Metropolitan Lima with a total of 291 rooms.

Informal prostitution takes different forms. Street prostitution is suppressed. Clandestine prostitution, like so many other activities that are considered illegal, mainly remains hidden and it is impossible to obtain statistics that would reflect the real situation. Between 1999 and 2001, by departments, the police reported that the Special Licenses Division recorded (or detected) the following numbers of premises as being in use for the purposes of clandestine prostitution: 40 in Ancash, 0 in Callao, 15 in Cuzco, 19 in Chiclayo, 25 in Iquitos, 13 in Pucallpa, 15 in Huancayo, 13 in Huánuco, 0 in Tacna and 161 in Lima.

With respect to the crime of pimping, the state does not enforce sufficiently strongly the law that would help to prevent agents involved in the sex trade. Pimping carries a penalty of between two and twelve years in prison. However there are very few judicial proceedings involving this crime. Neither the Judiciary nor the Ministry of Justice has public information about the problem. When we requested such information they said that they expected to have it available in the future in order to make it public. The forms of pimping typified in the criminal code are procurement and pandering; intermediation; living off earnings obtained from the prostitution of others; and people trafficking in or outside the country.

When pimping involves girl or adolescent prostitutes under the age of 14 that is regarded as an aggravating circumstance. Clients of adolescent prostitutes aged 14 to 17 are not punished. Nor is any distinction made between adolescent and adult prostitutes when they are illegally detained because the adolescents tend to say that they are adults. Furthermore women who work as street prostitutes tend not to carry their identity documents on them because these they are illegally confiscated from them.

With respect to health, the Ministry of Health runs a prevention Program on Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS (PROCETSS), which operates via a peer system involving women prostitutes. The program has funds for screening for, but not treatment of, diseases.

Women who work either legally or clandestinely as prostitutes do not benefit from any state measures that are consistent with the commitment adopted by Peru before the United Nations: to take steps to eradicate exploitation of women as prostitutes and trafficking in women in accordance with article 6 of the Convention. Furthermore women who work as prostitutes are the target of open discrimination and violence on the part of the state, in breach of article 2 of the Convention.

By regulating prostitution the state become a stakeholder whose involvement, given that it obtains revenue from prostitution, is tantamount to that of a pimp. Municipalities periodically examine the possibility of setting aside a red light district for street prostitution. Since October 2001, the Municipality of Lima has been reviewing a formal proposal to build a "boulevard" on the outskirts of the District, which would entail the construction of a large mall for hundreds of women. A scale model was made, complete with sex shops, pornographic cinemas, nightclubs, hotels, parking lot for having sex in cars, streets for solicitation, an administrative area, and a care center for the children of prostitutes.

The state harasses women who work as informal street prostitutes, using the municipal police, the national police, and the Office of the Prosecutor for Crime Prevention, and staging either joint or police-only operations to do so. Few police operations are designed to investigate the crime of pimping. The policy behind these operations is to harass the women. This is evident from the presence of journalists from print media, which publish photographs of the women in this situation and pass judgment on them. These operations entail the detention of the women despite the fact that the Peruvian Constitution provides that no person may be detained without a written court order or unless they are discovered in flagrante delicto. Neither of these requirements is met in the case of women who work as street prostitutes.

The state does not formally acknowledge the above as official policy. The police say that they "hold", not detain, prostitutes. In the 1999-2001 period the police say they "held" 293 prostitutes in Ancash, 787 in Callao, 129 in Cuzco, 707 in Chiclayo, 614 in Iquitos, 240 in Pucallpa, 348 in Huancayo, 404 in Huánuco, 30 in Tacna and 28,694 in Lima. This information does not indicate the real number of people working as clandestine prostitutes because the same person may be detained or "held" (to use the police euphemism) several times in a very short period.

Rather then investigate the crime of pimping, in Peru the entire state machinery is used against women who scandalize neighbors by working as street prostitutes. The alleged motives are scandal, immorality, and acts against moral conventions and public health. The state is not concerned with the problem of prostitution in itself, much less with the harm that it may cause to women; its main concern is the visibility of its actions in holding the women responsible and attacking them.

Another instance of the state's discrimination against women who work as prostitutes is the legal provision that makes it a crime to live off the "dishonest" earnings of a person who engages in prostitution. The term dishonest refers to the person who works as a prostitute, since it is impossible to qualify the earnings alone with this adjective. Therefore, the law discriminates against women who work as prostitutes.

A case of trafficking in women was discovered in 1999 when three women sought the assistance of the authorities from Korea. They were helped to return to the country by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Congressional Committee on Women. However, to date, no specific measures have been adopted to prevent women from falling into the clutches of trafficking rings . Almost 10% of the Peruvian population has migrated. In the past two years 17,000 more women than men have migrated, and women comprise 60% of all migrants. It is not known what proportion of women have become victims of trafficking.

The print media publishes various advertisements promoting sexual services. The authorities do not investigate this practice and it is a matter that concerns the Office of the Prosecutor for Crime Prevention.

With respect to sexual tourism it is said that in the Amazon region women offer themselves for sex as adolescents. The media has helped to disseminate this notion. Nor does the Office of the Prosecutor for Children and Adolescents investigate this matter. It would seem that freedom of the press is more important than the rights of minors.

The issue of impunity for clients of adolescent prostitutes aged 14 to 17 is a serious matter. These men cannot be accused of pimping, corruption of minors, or rape. At the same time it is important that the involvement of minors should be an aggravating circumstance in the same way that it is for pimps, since the state should not discriminate against this age group by treating it differently compared to other adolescent females or girls. All adolescents are legally entitled to the equal protection of the state in the context of criminal proceedings without discrimination on the basis of age.

With respect to the PROCETSS program, the current Government has cut its funding and coverage even further. In this situation, it is hard to see how the program will be able to reach more women prostitutes and adolescent prostitutes (who are more difficult to reach due to the clandestinity factor), much less clients, who, in turn, may infect partners.

The state has not complied with the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, since it has continued with regulation of prosecution, conceived a "preventive" system to protect the health of clients as well as providing them sexual services. It has not bothered to collect official information on the problem.