President's Page: Peru Sterilization Campaign
In January 1998, PRI sent researcher David Morrison to Peru to investigate reports that women were being forcibly sterilized. What he discovered was a nationwide campaign, aimed specifically at sterilizing poor and working class women, especially ethnic minorities. The program operated by sending mobile sterilization teams, who would suddenly appear in an area and then leave as quickly, after sterilizing as many women as possible in a short time. Doctors and medical workers were given incentives to fill sterilization quotas. And these sterilizations were carried out in dirty rooms, with unsterilized equipment; post-operative care was nonexistent.