Women themselves bore responsibility for the abuse they experienced
En los primeros días de marzo de 2021, mientras Perú se adentraba en una intensa campaña presidencial, las declaraciones públicas de Neldy Mendoza, candidata a la vicepresidencia por Renovación Popular, abrieron una grieta entre el discurso político y décadas de investigación sobre violencia de género. Al responsabilizar a las mujeres de la violencia que sufren y vincular el uso de anticonceptivos con la destrucción familiar, Mendoza no solo contradijo el consenso científico, sino que desafió los esfuerzos del propio Estado peruano por proteger a sus ciudadanas más vulnerables. En la historia larga de las democracias, pocas tensiones revelan tanto sobre una sociedad como la distancia entre quienes aspiran al poder y quienes más necesitan que ese poder los ampare.
- Una candidata a la vicepresidencia culpó públicamente a las mujeres de provocar la violencia que reciben, argumentando que sus 'deficientes habilidades interpersonales' desencadenan lo peor en sus agresores.
- Mendoza afirmó, sin respaldo científico, que el 89% de los casos de violencia doméstica involucran a mujeres que usan anticonceptivos, y que la anticoncepción en sí misma ha sido destructiva para las mujeres.
- Su compañero de fórmula, Rafael López Aliaga, ya había generado escándalo al proponer alojar a víctimas de violación en hoteles de lujo como incentivo para no abortar, sumando una capa más de indignación al binomio.
- Las redes sociales respondieron con furia: activistas señalaron que culpar a las víctimas es una barrera documentada que impide denunciar el abuso y buscar ayuda.
- Las declaraciones chocaron de frente con las iniciativas gubernamentales en marcha para expandir la protección a mujeres en situación de violencia, sembrando dudas sobre qué políticas impulsaría un eventual gobierno de Renovación Popular.
A comienzos de marzo de 2021, en plena carrera presidencial peruana, Neldy Mendoza —candidata a la vicepresidencia por el partido conservador Renovación Popular y enfermera de profesión— se convirtió en el centro de una tormenta en redes sociales tras una serie de declaraciones sobre mujeres, violencia y sexualidad que contradecían años de trabajo en salud pública y prevención de violencia doméstica.
En un foro en el Colegio De La Salle de Arequipa, Mendoza había defendido la abstinencia y la pureza sexual como la estrategia más eficaz contra las infecciones de transmisión sexual y los embarazos no deseados, atribuyendo estas ideas a epidemiólogos de universidades del hemisferio norte. También advirtió que enseñar a las mujeres a priorizar sus carreras sobre la maternidad las convertiría en lo que llamó 'abuelas terroristas' para sus propios nietos.
Pero fueron sus palabras sobre violencia doméstica las que generaron la reacción más intensa. Mendoza sostuvo que las mujeres eran responsables del maltrato que sufrían, porque sus pobres habilidades para relacionarse con otros podían despertar 'lo peor' en sus parejas. Fue más lejos aún al afirmar, sin evidencia, que el 89% de los casos de violencia doméstica involucraban a mujeres que usaban anticonceptivos, concluyendo que la anticoncepción había resultado destructiva para ellas.
Estas declaraciones no llegaron solas. Su compañero de fórmula, Rafael López Aliaga, ya había escandalizado al proponer que las víctimas de violación fueran alojadas en hoteles cinco estrellas —con piscina y comidas incluidas— durante nueve meses, como incentivo para no interrumpir el embarazo.
El momento era especialmente delicado: el gobierno peruano estaba ampliando activamente sus sistemas de protección para mujeres en situación de violencia. Las afirmaciones de Mendoza se erigían como un obstáculo simbólico y político frente a esos esfuerzos, y dejaban abierta una pregunta incómoda que acompañaría al binomio durante toda la campaña: ¿qué harían con esas políticas si llegaban al poder?
In early March 2021, as Peru's presidential race heated up, Neldy Mendoza—the vice-presidential candidate for the conservative party Renovación Popular—became the subject of widespread social media backlash over a series of statements about women, violence, and sexuality that contradicted years of public health and domestic violence prevention work.
Mendoza, a nurse, had made her views known in various public forums. At a speaking engagement at Colegio De La Salle in Arequipa, she argued that virginity and sexual purity represented the most effective public health approach to preventing sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and unwanted pregnancies—claims she attributed to epidemiologists at major universities in the Global North. In the same vein, she suggested that teaching women to prioritize careers over motherhood and domestic duties would turn them into what she called "terrorist grandmothers" to their own grandchildren.
But the remarks that drew the sharpest criticism came when Mendoza addressed the question of domestic violence. She asserted that women themselves bore responsibility for the abuse they experienced, arguing that their poor interpersonal skills and inability to relate well to others could trigger "the worst" in their partners. She framed this as a social indicator: many cases of violence against women, she said, had a history in which women had failed to learn how to interact properly with other people and had somehow enabled their abusers' worst impulses.
In another public statement, Mendoza made unsubstantiated claims linking contraceptive use directly to family violence. She stated that 89 percent of domestic violence cases involved women using birth control, and that over 90 percent of women taking contraceptives did not marry their sexual partners. She concluded that contraception itself had been destructive to women.
These comments did not emerge in isolation. Mendoza's running mate, Rafael López Aliaga—the presidential candidate for Renovación Popular and a figure known for his conservative positions—had already drawn criticism for his own remarks about women. In an interview with the television program Willax, López Aliaga had proposed offering rape victims luxury hotel accommodations as an incentive not to seek abortion. He described the scenario in detail: telling a child who had been sexually assaulted that he would provide her with a five-star hotel, complete with a swimming pool and meals, for nine months, after which she could decide whether to keep the baby or place it for adoption.
The timing of these statements was particularly fraught. Peru's government was actively working to expand protections for women experiencing violence, including the implementation of emergency alert systems in superior courts and mobile response teams through the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations. Mendoza's assertions that women were responsible for their own victimization stood in direct opposition to established research on domestic violence and the prevention frameworks being put into place.
The social media response was swift and angry. Advocates for women's rights pointed out that blaming victims for violence perpetrated against them is a well-documented barrier to reporting abuse and seeking help. The statements also raised questions about what policies a López Aliaga-Mendoza administration might pursue regarding reproductive rights, domestic violence prevention, and women's economic participation—questions that would linger through the campaign.
Notable Quotes
If you teach that what matters least is being a mother, but rather being a professional and making money and never washing dishes, you will become a terrorist grandmother to your grandchildren.— Neldy Mendoza, speaking at Colegio De La Salle in Arequipa
Many of the social indicators showing violence and even women's deaths have a history where probably we have not learned to relate to other people and perhaps we have enabled the worst in that person.— Neldy Mendoza, in public remarks on domestic violence
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did these particular statements cause such a reaction? Weren't they just one candidate's personal views?
Because she wasn't speaking as a private citizen—she was the vice-presidential nominee of a major party, and her words contradicted the actual work the government was doing to protect women from violence. When someone in that position says women cause their own abuse, it sends a message about what the next administration might do.
The contraception claim—89 percent of domestic violence cases—where did that number come from?
She didn't cite a source. Public health researchers have found no such link. It appears to be an assertion presented as fact, which is part of why it alarmed people working in women's health and violence prevention.
And López Aliaga's hotel proposal—was he serious?
He stated it as a policy position in a recorded interview. Whether he meant it as a literal plan or as a rhetorical argument against abortion, the effect was the same: it framed a child rape victim's decision-making around what material comfort might persuade her to carry a pregnancy to term.
What did this mean for the election?
It crystallized concerns about the ticket's stance on women's rights and bodily autonomy at a moment when Peru was trying to strengthen protections. It became a defining issue for voters who cared about those questions.
Did either candidate walk back the statements?
The record from this reporting doesn't show public retractions. The statements remained part of the public record as the campaign continued.