I.Introduction

1.Peru ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on 13 September 1982. In compliance with article 18 of the Convention, Peru hereby submits its follow-up report to the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the ninth periodic report of Peru.

2.According to paragraph 57 of the concluding observations, the information to be reported should be in response to the recommendations contained in paragraphs 22 (b), 24 (a), 34 (b) and 38 (c). Therefore, in the present document, Peru has addressed the specific progress and challenges related to the implementation of the recommendations contained in the aforementioned paragraphs during the period from December 2021 to July 2024.

3.On 9 August 2024, the report was submitted to the National Human Rights Council, the body responsible for issuing technical opinions and providing advice to the executive authorities on the development of public policies, programmes, projects, action plans and strategies in the area of human rights.

II.Information requested in paragraph 57 of the concluding observations

A.Discriminatory stereotypes and harmful practices

4.In response to paragraph 22 (b), in 2023, the Congress of the Republic adopted Act No. 31945, amending the Civil Code, contained in Legislative Decree No. 295. Pursuant to the Act, the marriage of children and adolescents is prohibited without exception, and their right to request, directly and without intermediaries, the annulment of marriages contracted prior to its entry into force is recognized.

5.In order to enhance the effectiveness of Act No. 31945, the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups provided training for the actors of the national system for the protection of children and adolescents in December 2023. In addition, it has disseminated the Act to the members of the permanent multisectoral commission tasked with the implementation of the national multisectoral policy for children and adolescents up to 2030, as well as to public entities, organizations of Indigenous and Amazonian communities and civil society in 195 provinces nationwide.

6.In 2024, 536 municipal advocates for children and adolescents and officials of the regional government of Callao were trained on Act No. 31945, and an informational video entitled “Child marriage is illegal” was published.

7.In November 2023, the National Registry Office adopted guidelines on the registration of marriages of minors, establishing the provisions applicable to requests for the registration of marriages in the civil registry when one or both of the parties are children or adolescents. In line with Act No. 31945, the guidelines prohibit the registration of marriages of children and adolescents: a denial must be issued and the information forwarded to the Office of the Public Prosecutor attached to the National Registry Office for appropriate legal action.

8.In March 2024, the National Registry Office adopted guidelines on the annulment of the marriage certificates of minors. The guidelines provide for the administrative annulment of certificates of marriage in cases where one or both parties are children or adolescents as from the date of enactment of Act No. 31945. Such annulment shall take effect even in the event of opposition by the married parties or third parties, and it shall be for the court to resolve any disputes that may arise with respect to certificates of marriage or wedding ceremonies. As of March 2024, the National Registry Office has reported the annulment of five marriage certificates by virtue of the application of the Act and the aforementioned guidelines.

9.In addition, communications have been sent to various authorities nationwide, including representatives of Indigenous communities and mayors of municipalities, districts and population centres, to raise awareness of the guidelines mentioned in paragraphs 7 and 8.

B.Gender-based violence against women

10.In response to paragraph 24 (a), reducing violence against women is the first priority objective under the national policy on gender equality. The results-oriented budget plan for the reduction of violence against women, which is an intersectoral and intergovernmental technical-budgetary instrument, serves to ensure the implementation of the policy.

11.In the context of Act No. 30364 on the prevention, punishment and eradication of violence against women and family members, Peru has a national system for the prevention, punishment and eradication of violence against women and family members. The system is overseen by a high-level multisectoral commission made up of representatives of the executive authorities, the judiciary, the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Office of the Ombudsperson.

12.The national system includes regional, provincial and district coordination bodies throughout the country, whose role is to implement, monitor, evaluate, coordinate and articulate policies aimed at combating violence against women and family members, as well as to promote and ensure compliance with Act No. 30364. Those bodies are overseen by the high-level multisectoral commission.

13.In view of the importance of the national system, the Congress of the Republic adopted Act No. 31439, amending Act No. 30364, and guidelines were issued on technical assistance with and follow-up to the establishment and functioning of regional, provincial and district coordination bodies within the framework of Act No. 30364. As of June 2024, there are 26 regional coordination bodies (all of the regional governments), 195 provincial coordination bodies and 911 district coordination bodies.

14.A national implementation strategy for the specialized national justice system for the protection of, and punishment of violence against, women and family members was approved in 2021, with the objective of promoting the system’s strategic and progressive application. As of March 2024, the national system was operational in eight judicial districts across the country.

15.In 2022, the regulations of Act No. 30364 were amended to explicitly recognize four new types of violence against women family members. In addition, Congress adopted Act No. 31613, to promote access to housing for women victims of violence and involve other public entities in the allocation of property to women’s shelters, and Act No. 31621, to promote temporary protection services for victims of domestic and sexual violence.

16.During the reporting period, through the national programme for the prevention of violence against women and family members, called “Aurora”: 375,479 people were assisted at women’s emergency centres, 85 per cent of whom were women; 17,332 people received assistance through the urgent care service, 80.5 per cent of whom were women; 7,253 people received assistance through the rural care service, 87 per cent of whom were women; and 806 women were assisted at women’s shelters.

17.In order to strengthen the care provided through Aurora, between 2021 and July 2024, guidelines were adopted on the prevention of violence against, and care for, domestic workers, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, and older persons within the framework of Act No. 30364.

18.In compliance with the national strategy for the prevention of gender-based violence against women, entitled “Women free from violence”, an initiative on strengthening prevention, through a coordinated national strategy, for the realization of women’s right to a life free of violence and gender-based discrimination in Peru, was adopted. As part of the initiative, guidelines on the implementation of, follow‑up to and evaluation of the national strategy for the prevention of gender-based violence against women were adopted.

19.A national observatory to combat political harassment of women has also been established under the national observatory to combat violence against women and family members, along with an early warning system.

20.The judiciary indicated that between December 2021 and March 2024, protocols and guidelines had been issued for ensuring the quality of special protection proceedings in cases of violence against women and family members; for the granting of protective and precautionary measures in accordance with Act No. 30364; for the application of Act No. 30364 by the magistrates’ courts; as well as to standardize the administration of justice with a gender perspective, among other provisions aimed at improving services for victims of crimes related to gender-based violence.

21.Similarly, the Office of the Public Prosecutor adopted a directive on its role in investigating crimes of violence against women and family members with a gender perspective. In addition, through the national coordination body for the prosecutors’ offices specializing in violence against women and family members, four consultation documents setting out standards for the incorporation of a gender perspective in the work of prosecutors have been approved, as well as two educational guides on the investigation of crimes of sexual violence and aggression against women.

C.Education

22.In response to paragraph 34 (b), it should be noted that Act No. 29600 of 2010, on the promotion of pregnancy-related educational reintegration, sets out measures aimed at promoting equity in education and providing continuity in the educational system for pregnant students and mothers. The regulation prohibits educational institutions from expelling pregnant students or mothers, or limiting their access to schools, and obliges such institutions to establish indicators of their progress in applying methods aimed at preventing and eliminating any form of discrimination based on pregnancy or maternity.

23.In addition, the regulations of Act No. 28044, the General Education Act, expressly establish that educational institutions must ensure that adolescents who are pregnant or mothers remain in the education system and must adopt measures to ensure their access to, retention in, reintegration into and completion of their educations without discrimination.

24.At the public policy level, both the national policy on gender equality and the national multisectoral policy for children and adolescents include arrangements designed to encourage comprehensive sexual education in institutions that provide basic education.

25.It should also be noted that the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Groups approved a health-care access protocol for pregnant girls and adolescents without parental care or at risk of losing it, in order to introduce the specific measures to be applied in such cases to protect the rights of pregnant girls and adolescents, including their right to educational continuity. During the reporting period, a total of 1,150 pregnant girls and adolescents and 1,767 child and adolescent mothers received assistance from special protection units nationwide.

26.The Ministry of Education has approved various sectoral regulations to promote comprehensive sexuality education, including a set of guidelines on comprehensive sexuality education in basic education. In addition, as part of the curricular tools developed, a guide to promoting educational continuity for students who are pregnant and/or have children at an early age was published as part of the training and educational guidance for regular basic education teachers.

27.At the same time, in 2022 and 2023, eight capacity-building activities on comprehensive sexuality education as a mechanism for the prevention of sexual violence and early pregnancy were held nationwide for education sector personnel. In terms of activities to promote comprehensive sexuality education that targeted students, the Ministry of Education reported that by 2023, a total of 45 secondary schools in urban areas of Metropolitan Lima, Áncash, Ayacucho, Loreto, Piura and Ucayali had taught comprehensive sexuality education, strengthening the skills of 6,166 students in that area.

28.In rural areas, differentiated regular basic education services are being promoted in order to increase access to and timely completion of education in accordance with children’s and adolescents’ circumstances. In that regard, in 2022 the Ministry of Education developed a proposed road map for guaranteeing educational continuity in rural education for students who are pregnant or mothers.

29.In terms of capacity-building, the Ministry of Education reported that six technical assistance activities on the prevention of violence and pregnancy were provided for education-sector bodies in rural areas in 2023.

30.In addition, in the framework of the specific regulations applicable to the high schools for high-performing students, a set of guidelines for the provision of education in basic educational institutions and programmes for 2024 were approved. The guidelines establish the responsibility of teachers and tutors to recognize and identify students at risk of dropping out, in order to coordinate the necessary measures to provide learning opportunities and tools with a view to ensuring continuity in education.

31.Similarly, the regulations governing education for students with outstanding abilities provide for specific measures to guarantee continuity for pregnant girls and young mothers in the high schools for high-performing students, within the framework of Act No. 29600. Those measures include the development of personalized educational plans for pregnant students or mothers, the option of flexible in-person attendance in cases where the student so requires, coordination with local health centres to arrange for pregnant students or mothers to go to health-care facilities for their regular check-ups and examinations, and educational work with families to strengthen connections and establish student representation arrangements in order to keep track of students’ learning.

D.Health

32.In response to paragraph 38 (c), on the training of health-care personnel in the implementation of the national technical guide on the standardization of comprehensive care for pregnant women who are undergoing a voluntary therapeutic abortion before the twenty-second week of pregnancy, approved by Ministerial Resolution No. 486-2014-MINSA, the Ministry of Health reported that between December 2021 and March 2024, a total of 213 health-care professionals received training at eight hospitals nationwide, located in the regions of Apurímac, Ayacucho, Callao, Huánuco, Metropolitan Lima, Moquegua, Piura and Tumbes.

33.Over the same period, the technical guide was applied in 373 cases. With respect to the total number of cases, it is worth noting that application of the guide has been gradually increasing as more health-care personnel receive training regarding therapeutic abortion and the content of the technical guide. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the number of girls, adolescents and women who underwent therapeutic abortions because of a serious risk to their life or health increased by 130 per cent nationwide, from 106 cases recorded in 2022 to 244 in 2023.

34.In addition, it should be noted that a draft supplementary technical guide on the application of the standardized care established pursuant to Ministerial Resolution No. 486-2014-MINSA is currently being evaluated, with a view to providing a guide on differentiated care for girls and adolescents who require an abortion.

III.Conclusions

35.Peru has taken various measures in order to comply with the recommendations of the Committee. Those include its adoption of Act No. 31945, prohibiting child marriage, preventive and judicial measures for the enforcement of Act No. 30364, the promotion of continuity in the education system for girls and adolescents who are pregnant or mothers, and the provision of capacity-building measures to support the effective implementation of the national technical guide on the standardization of comprehensive care for pregnant women who are undergoing a voluntary therapeutic abortion before the twenty-second week of pregnancy.