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Abstract:
This chapter assesses the recognition and realization of women's and LGBTQIA+ people's rights in Peru through constitutional law and litigation by critically examining the Constitutional Court's and other constitutional domestic courts’ pivotal rulings since 2005. Through an intersectional and law-in-context analysis, the chapter reveals that, while some constitutional advances have emerged in response to feminist and queer social movements, they remain insufficient to achieve material equality, with bold setbacks. The constitutional landscape has primarily recognized women as victims of violence deserving legal protection rather than as rights-bearing subjects. LGBTQIA+ people have been mostly neglected by the Peruvian constitutional order, with their fundamental rights denied and their identities pathologized. Lack of intersectionality in the courts’ reasonings has proven to be persistent, with exclusionary effects upon certain population groups, such as indigenous people, trans people, Afro-descendants, people with disabilities, and people in situations of poverty, subjecting them to further disparities and invisibility. The chapter underscores the gaps and shortcomings of the Peruvian constitutional order regarding sex, gender, and sexualities and their politicization through courts. It highlights that comprehensive constitutional reforms—rather than formal advancements—are necessary to fully acknowledge the diverse identities of people, recognize and uphold their fundamental rights, and secure essential material conditions for a decent quality of life.
