Peru’s Congress approved a law de-emphasizing gender in all public policies in the country. In addition, it replaces the comprehensive sexual education currently taught in schools with education “with a scientific, biological and moral basis.” The new standard, promoted by ultra-conservative Congresswoman Milagros Jauregui, stipulates that any reference to gender, gender equality or similar terms must be understood as “an approach to equal opportunities between men and women.”
This is a setback to nearly 20 years of work on sexual violence prevention, gender equality and non-discrimination in the country, according to feminist organizations that have issued various statements to try to stop the ruling. Even more so in a country where violence against girls and women does not stop: as of October 2025, women’s emergency centers have dealt with more than 18,000 cases of sexual violence against girls and adolescent girls; So far this year, 850 children under the age of 14 have become mothers according to the Register of Live Birth Certificates.
The ruling was approved in Congress by 78 votes and exempted from a second vote in the plenary session. The new law on equal opportunities between women and men changes the comprehensive approach to gender equality in all administrative documents of all public institutions, such as regulatory documents, state programmes, educational, health or judicial content.
“The change is not just a modification of terminology,” explains Yvonne Yupanke, a lawyer and gender expert, but “the elimination of everything that the gender approach entails”: understanding the differences and inequalities between men and women from a social and cultural perspective, not just a biological one. She points out that “there is a social structure and power imbalance that has historically caused discrimination against women.”
The law that this new ruling seeks to amend was one of the greatest achievements of the feminist movement two decades ago, recalls Rocio Gutierrez, director of the Manuela Ramos Organization, which has been working in Peru for nearly 50 years. “A standard has been approved at the highest level that recognizes a gender approach as a conceptual basis for understanding that there are social and cultural structures that go beyond people’s biology,” he says. Many public policies have been built on this law, such as the National Gender Equality Policy, the National Plan to Combat Violence against Women, and even the establishment and direction of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Gutierrez explains that these policies “are based on a gender approach because they recognize that women, in a context of inequality, have needs and demands that must be addressed, because they generate deprivation and loss of opportunities.” Programs to prevent teenage pregnancy or reduce maternal mortality are part of these developments.
He warns that without a gender approach, femicide can be presented as a crime of passion or teenage pregnancy as individual wrongdoing. “The structural roots of violence against women are unknown and we can fall into the most reactionary explanations,” he points out. Furthermore, he warns, this standard leaves the LGBT+ community, which has historically been discriminated against, completely unprotected. “We will go back to biological explanations that can support reconversion practices or treatments,” he asks. “We can think the way we did 50 years ago.”
Offering for Christians
After the rule was approved in Congress, Congresswoman Urigi declared to Bethel Noticias: “It was a victory for all Christians and all who defend life and family.” He added: “What we did was go back to the beginning. We went back years as if this had never happened. This is a great victory.”
In the past two years, Congress has promoted bills that violate the rights of women and girls, according to specialized organizations: trying to change the name and focus of the Ministry of Women or proposing to abolish femicide as a separate crime, among others. Jorge and his party, Renovación Popular, were the main promoters. Regarding the membership of Congress, Gutierrez notes: “It has insisted on being a machine for anti-rights laws; but it is not alone. There is a large group of parliamentarians linked to conservative factions, evangelical and Adventist churches, and political groups that have influence in Congress.” Congresswoman Jáuregui herself is a pastor of the church.
These initiatives also sought to weaken comprehensive sex education in schools, and the new law on opportunities between men and women includes this change. The ESI standard replaces what is called “sex education on a scientific, biological and ethical basis.” The goal, according to the congresswoman herself, is “for children to be able to go to school to study scientifically and morally, but not ideologically.”
This is one of the most sensitive points in the new law, as specialists warn, because it conflicts with the quality and comprehensiveness of education. ESI addresses body knowledge, autonomy and consent, and explains different forms of violence and how to seek help, as well as sexual relationships. They warn that without this training, girls are left unprotected. “When this issue is not talked about, it creates fertile ground for adults, potential abusers, to take advantage of this situation and abuse girls and teens,” Yupanki says. In the country, one in four girls under the age of 12 declares that they have experienced sexual violence in childhood, according to the National Social Relations Survey.
After a rule is approved in the plenary session of Congress, the executive branch has a period of time to publish or consider it and request amendments. However, Congress can approve it at his insistence if he obtains the necessary majority. Manuela Ramos warns that the new law, in addition to being unconstitutional by repealing several public policies, does not recognize international standards and agreements that Peru has signed regarding women’s rights and equality policies. “Not only is this a setback for decades as a community, but it is also unworkable,” says the organization’s director.