Peru is a multiparty democratic republic. The single-chamber Congress has 120 members elected by proportional representation for a period of five years. 33 women currently hold seats, 27.5% of the total. At least 30% of the list of candidates for any elected position has to be women. The first round of the general elections was held on 10 April 2011 to renew Legislative and Executive Power. Ollanta Humala (Gana Peru party) gained 31.69% of the votes and his main opponent, Keiko Fujimori (daughter of the former dictator who is currently imprisoned), gained 23.55%. Both will compete for the Presidency in the second round to be held on 5 June 2011.

The judiciary is independent by law, but in practice its transparency and autonomy is questioned.

Discrimination on grounds of race, gender, disability, language or social status is banned, but in practice, women, the disabled, indigenous, ethnic, and racial minorities continue to suffer discrimination. More than a million undocumented people are socially and politically marginalised and cannot access public services. Approximately 15% of births are not registered. In rural areas, a high percentage of women and children lack basic identity documents. There are reports on torture of people detained and the use of excessive force against demonstrators.

In January 2011, Human Rights Watch questioned the work of the Peruvian Government in defence of Human Rights, and considered that the majority of those responsible for the abuse have managed to evade justice thanks to the Army. HRW claims that moves taken by the Judiciary to prosecute members of the police and military for abuses committed during Peru's internal armed conflict have not produced very encouraging results.

Corruption is one of the main problems that need resolving. According to Transparency International, Peru is 78th on the list of 178 countries, with 3.5 points on a scale of 0 to 10.

Access to government information is legally guaranteed and most ministries provide data on their websites, but a new law on intelligence is limiting public access to information. Journalists suffer attacks or threats from the authorities, particularly at a local level, and also from private groups such as those linked to the cultivation of coca.

There is widespread human trafficking within the country's territory. Underage girls are victims of trafficking for the purposes of prostitution or for work as domestic employees. In 2010, the Public Ministry recorded 228 reported cases of human trafficking. Most cases occurred in Madre de Dios, Lima, Cuzco, Puno and Loreto. What is most alarming is that of the 396 reported victims of this crime, 65.3% were between 6 and 17 years old.

Homosexuals are also victims of discrimination. The Peruvian government did not adhere to the joint declaration which aims to stop human rights violations based on people's sexual orientation or sex. The motion was presented by Colombia before the Council of Human Rights of the United Nations (UN). The only South American countries that did not sign the declaration, which was presented on 22 March 2011 in Geneva, were Peru, Guyana and Surinam.

Education is free and compulsory for a period of 13 years. In isolated regions, the lack of qualified teachers limits the education available. Prices for uniforms and books are prohibitive for low-resource families and limit access to education. Children from the most underprivileged sectors of the population attend school for an average of 7.8 years, while the figure is 9.4 for those who are above the poverty level. Night schools are available for teenagers who have jobs, plus a program of daytime classes. Teachers provide extra support for working children. Although educational cover has improved, the rural population, illiterate people and ethnic minorities continue to experience problems in accessing education. The Ministry of Education requires all state and private primary schools to provide Roman Catholic religion classes, although parents can ask for their children to be excluded.

A 3-year programme begins at age 3. At this level, 16% of education is private. The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) is 58%. 98% of the 39,824 teachers working at this level are women. The pupil/teacher ratio (PTR) is 27: 1.

Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16. Primary education begins at age 6 and lasts for 6 years. At this level, 14% of education is private. The NER is 98% (49% girls). 78% of students enrolled in the first year course stay on to the last year of Primary Education. 10% of pupils have to repeat a year's course. 170,737 teachers (67% women) work at this level. The PTR is 25: 1.

Secondary education begins at age 12 and lasts for 5 years. At this level, 17% of education is private. The NER is 69%. 6% of pupils have to repeat a year's course. In total, there are 134,279 secondary teachers (44% women). The PTR is 19: 1.

831,345 pupils (51% women) are studying at tertiary institutions, giving a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 32%. At this level, 47% of education is private. 9,715 Peruvian students are studying abroad, with the highest levels in the USA (3,771), Germany (902), Chile (722), Italy (687) and France (498).

Discrimination against people with disabilities is prohibited. A specialist at the Human Rights Defender's office works on behalf of the rights of people with disabilities. However, there are few resources. A large number of disabled people find themselves marginalised. The law obliges universities and public organisations to make their websites accessible to the blind. Less than 1% of people with serious disabilities are in work. SUTEP, the Peruvian teachers' union and member of EI, points out that there are very few special education centres and that more training is needed for student teachers who are to teach disabled pupils in mainstream education.

The law provides for asylum or the status of refugee to be granted in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the government has established a system to provide protection for refugees. The government cooperates with UNHCR in granting the status of refugee. The majority of internally displaced people are indigenous peasants from the Andes and Amazonian regions who have little access to education.

About 45% of Peru's population is indigenous, while 37% are mixed race and 15% are white. There are also people of Japanese, Chinese, and African origin. The official language is Spanish, but Quechua and Aymara are also spoken. The black population suffers from discrimination and social prejudice. Job advertisements in newspapers tend to subtly exclude black people; for example, by asking candidates to submit photos. Most indigenous and mixed-race peoples live in areas where transport is scarce and inefficient and communications are inadequate. Indigenous peoples living in rural areas do not receive equal access to public services, particularly to education: 90% live in poverty and only 39% complete primary education. The National Institute for Development of the Andes Peoples (INDEPA) has been established as a ministerial organisation for coordinating action between the government and indigenous peoples. Peru's teachers' union, SUTEP, states that indigenous and rural peoples continue to be victims of social exclusion. There are some training centres for bilingual teachers in the Amazon region and in Puno.

SUTEP reports that some subjects have been excluded from the school program due to neo-liberal educational reforms, such as budget cuts, staff reductions at universities, pressure to incorporate business company criteria into research, closing departments and research centres, and reducing the number of libraries and laboratories; all of them fundamental resources for guaranteeing academic freedom.

Men and women have the same rights in law, and discrimination against women is prohibited in marriage, divorce and property laws. However, women suffer from discrimination in employment and in opportunities for education. They are entitled to receive equal pay for equal work or work of equivalent value, but in practice this is still not the case. Sexual harassment is defined by law as a breach of labour rights but continues to be commonplace and is not efficiently dealt with.

Large cities have Women's Protection Officers to deal with the frequent cases of domestic violence, but their scope of action continues to be limited. Statistics on known cases of femicide have started to be published, and reveal that 100 women a year are murdered by their partners or former partners.

The Criminal Code classes trafficking of women and girls as a crime, but is applied mainly to cases of international trafficking. Domestic trafficking of persons is still not sufficiently penalised; there is still a lack of legal framework for penalising other forms of trafficking, such as those involving forced labour, servitude and slavery, which are common cases of domestic trafficking. According to the Flora Tristan Peruvian Women's Centre , there is clear evidence that the State, through its officers and public servants, fails to realise the true extent of people trafficking and underestimates its importance. Further, the State bodies' failure to act along with the corruption that exists in the judicial and administrative systems causes an increase in the number of women and girls who are duped and taken to other cities or countries for forced work in the sex trade or to work in poor conditions with no security or recognised rights, while being exposed to serious risks to their health and lives.

Domestic work is a source of exploitation, mainly due to lack of regulation on the rights of domestic workers and the low status in which it is held by the public. Risks of abuse and exploitation are increased by the fact that domestic work is inadequately defined in law and the tasks involved are not clearly specified, with the result that the worker often becomes the victim of a never-ending imposition of tasks and obligations.

Women in rural areas are only given the corresponding document certifying live birth if they give birth in a medical centre, which is not possible for many women. Without it they cannot obtain a birth certificate, with the result that both mother and child find themselves deprived of many other rights.

At present, 1,760,000 girls and adolescents live in rural areas. Their chances of accessing education regularly and of successfully completing their education are limited, and require special attention. Despite progress made in extending the education system, girls in rural areas continue to experience difficulties in benefiting from education due to the extreme poverty of rural families, poor state of schools in the country's more inaccessible areas, and gender-based discrimination.

In April 2011, organisations such as The Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defence of Woman's Rights (CLADEM) and the Manuela Ramos NGO again complained to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights over the massive sterilisation programme in force during the dictatorship of Alberto Fujimori and targeting women in rural, peasant and indigenous regions. 300,000 women are estimated to have been victims of the forced sterilisation programme, which was financed by the World Bank.

The minimum age for working is 14; children between 12 and 14 are allowed to work a maximum of 4 hours per day, and teenagers from 15 to 17 years of age can work up to 6 hours per day. However, a special permit from the Ministry of Labour is required stating that the children also attend school. 80% of working children supposedly also attend school. In actual fact, a high proportion of girls and boys of school age work instead of studying, and end up dropping out of school altogether. Peru has some of the most active groups defending the supposed "right" of children to work, which has led to disputes with the trade union movement, which supports the right to education and the struggle to eliminate child labour.

The National Institute for Statistics and IT, which - with the support of IPEC/ILO - is carrying out a Survey on Child Labour (ETI), estimates that 2.3 million children between the ages of 7 and 17 work, most of them (1.9 million) in the informal economy. Domestic workers work long hours and are paid between 20 USD and 30 USD per month. A street teaching programme sends specialised teachers out into the streets to offer children education and support. The National Directive Committee for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour (CPETI) has been established, with a 10-year plan for eradicating child labour among children of under 14 and for offering more protection to working teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18.

Around 5,000 boys and girls are used by drug dealers for the transport and sale of drugs in small quantities.

Basic trade union rights are recognised, but the legislation poses problems. Workers in the private and public sectors can form and join unions without prior authorisation, but the minimum membership base required by law to be able to form a trade union is too high. Temporary workers are not allowed to be members of the same unions as workers on fixed contracts. Companies hire temporary workers so as to keep down the number of union members. The law does not protect workers against anti-union activity, allowing workers to be dismissed with no justification whatsoever in exchange for a compensation sum fixed by law. The Constitution provides the right to collective bargaining, though for public administration workers the scope for negotiation is restricted. The right to strike is recognised, but is undermined by the fact that authorisation from the Ministry of Work must be sought before calling a strike. Moreover, the Ministry has powers to break a strike if it puts the company or the productive sector at serious risk, or if the dispute becomes serious on account of its magnitude or consequences. The Labour Administration Authority - not the courts - are empowered to decide whether a strike is legal or not, and can also determine the extent of minimum services in the case of disagreement between the parties. Lastly, a Ministerial Order establishes the existence of a national Register of substitute teachers for replacing teachers who decide to strike.

The minimum wage does not allow a decent standard of living for workers and their families. Half the active population is paid the minimum wage or less. By law, the working week is 48 hours.

At its meeting in June, 2009, the ILO's Committee on the Freedom of Association, made the following recommendations, on case 2587 submitted in 2007 by SUTEP, a member of EI, which opposed the authorities' abusive practices concerning the right to strike and provision of minimum services.
(a) the Committee hopes that the amendments to the General Labour Law will be approved and is in total agreement with Convention No. 87 and in particular that, in the event of a strike within the education sector, decisions on minimum services and the minimum number of workers to be provided should involve not only the authorities but also employers' and workers' organisations.
(b) the Committee asks the Government to take measures to modify Supreme Decree No. 017-2007-ED regulating Law 28988, in such a way that the body empowered to declare a strike inadmissible or illegal should be independent and have the confidence of all parties.
(c) The Committee asks the Government to take measures necessary to overturn sections 7 (the national Register of substitute teachers) of Decree No. 017 2007-ED regulating Law No. 28988, and to focus their policy on complying with levels of minimum services, instead of drawing up lists of replacements for those on strike."

State of World Population, 2010. "From Conflict and Crisis to Renewal: Generations of Change" UNFPA, November 2010, www.unfpa.org (English)

www.hrw.org

Corruption Perception Index 2010, Transparency International, www.transparency.org

"Flora Tristan" Peruvian Women's Centre, www.flora.org.pe

Annual Report on Violations of Union Rights, 2010, International Confederation of Unions, June 2010, www.ituc-csi.org

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Report 356, 2010, Committee on the Freedom of Association, http://webfusion.ilo.org/public/db/standards/normes/libsynd/index.cfm?hdroff=1