by Stephanie Poray, SUNY Cortland
Posted in on Sunday, Nov 25
Degradation of women around the world by rape is an ongoing problem. The severity of rape however, varies in different societies. Rape is punished severely in the United States while our southern neighbor, Peru, handles this human rights violation in an entirely different way.
If a woman is raped in Peru, her attacker can easily escape legal punishment. He simply has to ask the woman to marry him. According to Peruvian law, a rapist will be acquitted of charges if he offers to marry his victim and she accepts (Sims). This legislation basically takes away all the negative sanctions of rape. Such laws can cause an increase in Peruvian rape, due to the lack of penalty. This law can lead to further violence against women, as rapists may threaten their victims to accept a marriage proposal in order to clear themselves of legal charges. In addition to Peru, there are 14 other Latin American countries that deal with rape cases in this way (Marger 324).
One might ask, “Why would any women ever agree to a marriage proposal by her attacker?” This answer is simple: family honor. The family and relatives of a rape victim in Peru, the poor areas especially, will urge her to marry the rapist. They see this as the only way to restore the woman’s honor and that of her family. They wrongfully think that a woman, by law must accept the marriage proposal of her rapist. This is not true. Although it may be difficult, due to pressure from both her family and the attacker, a woman is able to decline the proposal.
Women’s rights groups have been fighting for changes in these inhumane laws for many years. The law that absolved an attacker and his accomplices was first introduced in 1924 (Sims). Since then, there has been a small revision in the legislation. In 1991, the law was changed to only clear the individual who did the rape by a marriage proposal. Before this change, the attacker and his accomplices, if he had any, were all cleared of charges if the woman accepted the proposal of her main attacker.
This legislation is still being fought in Peru today. The rights of women are immensely violated by this law, and women’s rights advocates will not rest until rapists in Peru are forced to pay their debt to society for their crimes.
Works Cited
Marger, Martin N. 2008. Social Inequality: Patterns and Progress. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
Sims, Calvin. 1997. “Justice in Peru: Rape Victim is Pressed to Marry Attacker.” New
York Times (March 12):A1,A8.
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