The Innocent Women Accused of Terrorism. Social Characteristics and Consequences of Detention

This work attempts to present in a systematized form the social characteristics and personal histories of a group of women who are victims of the application of anti-terrorist legislation. From 1992 onward, this legislation gave rise to the appearance of hundreds of innocent people unjustly accused of terrorism, which is why it has been considered one of the principal sources of human rights violations in our country. We had the opportunity to meet and speak for many hours with each of these women. This work is an attempt to draw closer to them and to understand their living conditions, experiences and feelings, as well as to understand the magnitude of the impact of the violence exercised by the State against these women and their families. Below we present the principal social characteristics of forty women unjustly accused. Their cases were selected for being the most representative of the female population in such a situation. The data were collected during interviews conducted with them between 1995 and mid-1998 at the Maximum Security Women's Prison in Chorrillos, in Lima, and at the offices of the Instituto de Defensa Legal, within the framework of the social and humanitarian assistance program. (Excerpt from the preface).