Abstract
Augusta García Platas died after a clandestine abortion in Ayacucho in 1946. This article, based on material in the Historical Archive in Ayacucho, examines the criminal trial that was held to determine who was responsible for her death. Although the judicial authorities accused certain individuals of being directly responsible for inducing an abortion, they considered that the root cause of the young woman's death was neglect on the part of those who were supposed to protect her physical and moral health. This case provides an opportunity to clarify the strategies used by the defendants to refute criminal charges. It also helps us understand the various deficiencies of the Peruvian legal system in the mid-twentieth century.
Highlights
Augusta García Platas died after a clandestine abortion in Ayacucho in 1946
This article examines the first abortion case to be widely discussed in the city of Ayacucho, Peru, after the death of a young woman named Augusta García Platas, in 1946
The Ayacucho court saw neglect as the fundamental reason why Augusta García Platas became pregnant and sought an abortion, and it took an active role in reconstructing the events in order to amend the injustice that both she and, to a much lesser extent, the aborted fetus, suffered
Summary
The Ayacucho court saw neglect as the fundamental reason why Augusta García Platas became pregnant and sought an abortion, and it took an active role in reconstructing the events in order to amend the injustice that both she and, to a much lesser extent, the aborted fetus, suffered In other words, this case gives us the opportunity to consider new actors involved in constructing abortion as a social problem: the police and the legal system. My analysis stresses the efforts made by members of Augusta García Platas’ social circle to protect her from the worst consequences of her situation as a neglected adolescent This case indicates that the concept of neglect was used pejoratively by the legal authorities, while family members tended to emphasize autonomy as necessary for young people to become responsible adults. This case underlines the role of the Peruvian justice system in determining criminal liability, not as a competent and impartial institution, but just the opposite: the justice system that discussed this case demonstrated essential deficiencies, harmful prejudices, and may well have imprisoned an innocent person
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