PROJECT
To seek gender justice for women and LGBTQI+ persons facing online gender-based violence
OBJECTIVE
To comprehensively document both the consequences with which a person facing digital gender violence lives and the response from the Peruvian justice system, and to make evidence-based recommendations for improvement at the federal level regarding the legal, technological and emotional aspects of caring for victims.
CONTEXT
Gender violence is one of the biggest problems Peru faces. Online gender violence is not yet recognized as violence in and of itself by most people.
In 2018, Peru passed Legislative Decree 1410, which criminalizes harassment, sexual harassment, sexual blackmail and the dissemination of intimate images without consent, each of which is expanded through technology. Although this legal framework is in place, there are still many challenges in the complaint process and in the actual implementation of justice.
Resolving online gender violence in Peru means recognizing that both women and people of other gender diversities are in a situation of greater vulnerability. This in a context in which there are already multiple barriers to accessing justice for those who have experienced gender violence. Now these barriers may be reproducing and growing in cases of digital violence, making an effective response by the State urgently necessary.
If women and activists aren’t informed on Legislative Decree 1410, which typifies online gender violence in Peru, they might not seek and/or find justice in cases of harassment, sexual harassment, sexual blackmail or the dissemination of intimate images without consent.
Project achievements
Hiperderecho succeeded in identifying all of the access routes to justice available in Peruvian legislation in cases of harassment, sexual harassment, sexual blackmail and the dissemination of intimate images without consent, offering victims a panoramic view of the legal strategies that could be implemented in their cases. This diversity of routes has provided them with options from which they can choose according to their own needs and vision of justice, be it protection, punishment or reparation.
In addition, Hiperderecho designed a strategy for supporting cases that allowed them to learn about the different perspectives and experiences of those trying to report violence online in the country. Through this, they managed to pinpoint the obstacles related to filing a complaint of online gender violence, such as a lack of information on DL1410; a lack of guidance on pursuing justice through criminal, civil or administrative routes; a lack of understanding with regard to the distinction between these routes; and mistreatment by operatives within the justice system, among others.
