Commissioners’ Agreement

Incorporation of the gender perspective in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR, in Spanish) considered it is vitally important to incorporate the gender perspective in its work of seeking truth and reconciliation. In this regard, it encourages its officials to develop a constant concern so this aspect is present in their daily work.

To do so, it is necessary to acknowledge the effects that political violence had on Peruvian men and women, understanding the different ways in which their human rights were affected during the period under investigation. Likewise, we must acknowledge the existence of discrimination and invisibility of one sector of the population- in this case women- and from that situation design strategies to clearly incorporate what happened to them in CVR’s investigations.

Although there are specific recommendations per work area, some general strategies must be specially observed:

1. Always take into account the different ways in which violence was experienced and continues being experienced by men and women.

2. Permanently question if our conclusions and scope can be generalized or if it is necessary to make a difference depending on if those involved are men or women.

3. Acknowledging the existence of traditional gender roles that must not predetermine the direction of our investigation (woman, mother, wife, /man; father, head of household) but which must be identified and recognized along the work.

4. In what refers to statistical work, permanently differentiate obtained results by sex.

5. Acknowledging that women’s voices have been traditionally ignored.

6. Developing the necessary mechanisms to have women’s voices heard and to make the specific violation of their human rights visible (public hearings, press notes, dissemination material, etc.).

Lima, May 2002