Women Travellers

So many limitations are imposed on women’s freedom to travel together or alone that any advice or warning seems merely to reinforce the situation. However, machismo is well ingrained in the Peruvian male mentality, particularly in the towns, and female foreigners are almost universally seen as liberated and therefore sexually available. Having said that, in most public places and in genuine friendly contact situations women travelling on their own tend to get the “pobrecita” (“poor little thing”) treatment because they are alone, without family or a man

Harassment and safety

On the whole, the situations you’ll encounter are more annoying than dangerous, with frequent comments such as que guapa (“how pretty”), intrusive and prolonged stares, plus whistling and hissing in the cities . Worse…
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The feminist movement

Though a growing force, feminism is still relatively new to Peru, and essentially urban. However, there are two major feminist groups: Flora Tristan, Avenida Arenales 601, Lima, which is allied to the United Left and whose basic tenet is…
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