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Julissa Mantilla is a lawyer and professor at the Law School
and the Gender Diploma of the Pontificia Universidad Católica
del Perú (PUCP). She obtained her master degree (LLM)
from The London School of Economics and Political Science
(LSE) of the University of London in 2000. She received
a scholarship from the World Bank and from LSE in order
to accomplish her post graduate studies.
Her main interests are international human rights law, gender
issues, human rights of women and the comparative study
of cases of sexual violence against women, especially during
armed conflict.
In 1995, she was appointed as the Peruvian Representative
for the International Development Bank Delegation at the
Fourth Women's International Conference and NGO Forum. In
1998, she was selected as a Junior Scholar at the Woodrow
Wilson Center, based at the George Washington University,
where she developed the research "Human Rights in the
USA Foreign Policy: The Peruvian Case".
From 1998 to 1999 she worked at the Peruvian Ombudsman
Office for Human Rights, researching violations of reproductive
rights in Peru, especially the cases of forced sterilization
against Peruvian women. From 2002 to 2003 she was part of
the legal team of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (CVR); she was particularly responsible for the
matters related with sexual violence against women. In addition,
as a gender consultant, she was in charge of incorporating
a gender perspective through all the work of the CVR.
Likewise, during 2003 she was a consultant for the High
Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia and the Women
and Armed Conflict Board, developing techniques of documenting
cases on violence against women.
She has participated as a speaker in international conferences
and workshops organized by institutions like the Robarts
Centre for Canadian Studies (University of York, Canada);
Justice Studies Center of the Americas (CEJA, Chile); American
Women in Development (AWID, México); Oñati
International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISJ,
Spain); General Prosecutor, National University and the
Institute of Studies of the National Prosecutor of Colombia;
Corporación La Morada and Institute of Women (Chile);
International Bar Association (IBA, Panamá), among
others.
Selected Publications:
"Sexual violence against women: The findings of thePeruvian
Truth and Reconciliation Comisión", Derecho
y Sociedad Law Review, Pontificia Universidad Católica
del Perú, 14, No XXI, 2003.
"Forgotten crimes: Sexual violence against women",
in: Democracy and Human Rights, ed. COMISEDH-UNIFEM, March
2003.
"The recognition of the Human Rights of Women",
in: 50 years of the Human Rights Declaration, IDEI-PUCP,
November 1999.
"The Inter American System of Protection of Human
Rights: The Convention of Belem do Para", in: Gender,
Law and Discrimination, Peruvian Ombudsman for Human Rights,
August 1998.
"Human Rights in the USA Foreign Policy: The Peruvian
Case", Woodrow Wilson Center, July 1998.
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Sexual violence against women and the experience
of Truth Commissions: A Comparative Study
Across the world, there has been more than twenty Truth
Commissions created with the aim of researching and reporting
massive human rights violations. Unfortunately, with the
exception of Guatemala, South Africa and Peru, Truth Commissions
have conducted their work without a gender perspective,
not only during its day-to-day work but also in the preparation
of their final reports. Traditionally, researches on human
rights have not incorporated a specific preoccupation about
what happens to women during armed conflicts or under dictatorial
regimes, since sexual violence -rape specifically- has been
regarded as collateral damage or as something "that
always happens".
In this sense, this project will be focused on sexual violence
against women as a human right violation. The project has
two main goals: to evaluate the work of past Truth Commissions
concerning human rights of women -specially concerning the
cases of sexual violence- and to give some guidelines for
future Truth Commissions. It will include gender sensitive
strategies, guidelines for documentation of violations of
human rights of women and an evaluation of the processes
of past Truth Commissions.
This research will collaborate with one of the main objectives
of the NCS: to improve the lives of women. Women that do
not have access to justice and reparation for human rights
violations cannot improve their situations. The project
will help the process of recognition of human rights of
women, not only by the legal system but also by the society
as a whole. It is mandatory that sexual violence against
women start being considered as what it actually is: a human
rights violation and/or an international crime. It is compulsory
that the States develop reparation policies that include
victims of sexual violence.
In this context, we shall bear in mind the process of recovering
memory, truth and justice that is developing around the
world. This process must include a gender perspective that
gathers the voice and stories of women in order to heal
wounds and start the process of reconciliation.
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Professor,
School of Law
