Reproductive justice and the figure of the child: The multiple harms of forced sterilization and abortion in Peru

Abstract

We argue that discourses around forced sterilization and abortion restrictions too often focus on motherhood and fertility and ignore the multiple other harms they bring. To do this, we travel with the North American framework of reproductive justice (RJ) to think through experiences of (non)reproduction in Peru and consider its analytic possibilities. In this intervention, we wish to focus on the commonality between RJ's three tenets: the figure of the child and its analytic force. We argue that while the aim of the RJ framework is not to reify fetuses and children at the expense of adults nor to reinforce a pronatalist position, the fact that the tenets are formulated around children means that, when mobilized for political or analytical purposes, they can reinforce repronormative mandates. We use the examples of forced sterilization and abortion in Peru to consider the issues this figuration of the child brings into being and the landscape of meaning it produces.