Recent Sentences in Peru Send Strong Message to Community that Sexual Violence Will Not Be Tolerated

The work of Paz y Esperanza, IJM’s casework alliance partner in Peru, continues to make inroads in a judicial system that has been less than aggressive in the prosecution of sexual crimes against women and children. On June 14, 2007, after much work by Paz y Esperanza lawyers and investigators, the Second Penal Court of Huánuco handed down a sentence of 15 years imprisonment to a man guilty of violently raping a 19-year-old woman.

In May of this year, the Superior Justice Court of Huánuco sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping and committing other acts of sexual violence against his two stepdaughters, aged nine and 14. The severity of the sentence made headlines. In a community where sexual violence against women and children runs rampant, these harsh consequences will serve as a deterrent to would-be abusers in the future.