Paper short abstract:

In Peru, education reform triggered fundamentalist mobilisations against gender equality, but women's rights activists ensured the inclusion of the gender approach. They forged a solid alliance with the highest authorities in government and mobilised the public opinion in favour of gender equality.

Paper long abstract:

In Peru, the inclusion of the gender equality approach in the new basic education curriculum in 2017 represented a milestone for opposition actors to become a large social movement. With a great capacity to mobilise resources, fundamentalist groups developed a triple strategy against gender equality: massive public demonstrations, a judicial process against the State, and an intense legislative advocacy through fujimoristas members in Congress.

Despite the initial advancement of the fundamentalist agenda, the feminist movement ensured the inclusion of gender equality in the curricular reform. I argue that women's rights activists played a crucial role in this process and explain the main strategies they used.

With limited organisational resources, feminist activists took advantage of the political confrontation between the legislative and the executive branch, forging a solid alliance with the highest authorities in government. In my analysis of newspaper records, I find a pattern that suggests a coordinated response. Gender equality is constantly equated with a better Peru and quality education, while the lack of it is explaining the high rates of sexual violence in the country.

Also, feminists politically appropriated the identity of 'mothers' to defend the gender approach in education. They gained the support of journalists, opinion leaders, scholars and regional governments, who created, for the first time in Peruvian history, a great civil society platform willing to support gender equality.

The action of feminist leaders as 'creative agents' and critical actors was crucial to resist the pushback and ensure the gender approach in the curriculum.