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→Women Opposed to the Shining Path
Senderistas attempted to disrupt the march and intimidate those advocating peaceful solutions, but they were expelled by the female marchers. Without the support of women, the Shining Path struggled for legitimacy and control, in the face of explicit opposition from Peruvian women, the group asserted their influence though violence and repression. The potential contribution of Peruvian women may have been overlooked by the masculine organizations that formed in the 1970s, but within the extraordinary conditions of the war, women’s foundational position within society became clear.
The war also inspired women in the Peruvian countryside to act in the public sphere in order to protect their children and their communities. As the number of casualties grew and the men left, women in Andean communities formed self-defense organizations, or Rondas Campesinas.<ref>Corder, “Women in War,” 356.</ref> Although accounts of the successful opposition to the Shining Path often include gendered language and references to masculine resistance, women, or Ronderas, played central roles in the community organization. <ref>Kimberly Theidon, “Disarming the Subject: Remembering War and Imagining Citizenship in Peru,” 70. </ref> Although some described their activities as “making ourselves macho,” or “put[ting] ourselves in the position of men,” the efforts of women to oppose the Shining Path dealt the People’s War a serious blow.<ref>Theidon, “Disarming the Subject,” 74.</ref> Gendered language aside, the outcome of the Ronderas’ involvement in the war against the Shining Path was significant, communities cooperated with the Peruvian state to identify, attack, and purge Senderistas.<ref>Starn, “Villagers at Arms: War and Counterrevolution in the Central-South Andes,” <I>Shining and Other Paths</I>, 232-233.</ref>
Andean women recognized the value of their political participation, and sought to ensure their continued political involvement. In Ayacucho in 1994 and 1995, Andean women created the “Proposal of the Women of Ayacucho.” <ref>Corder, “Women in War,” 165-170.</ref> The women demanded guarantees they would retain their position in the economy, state aid for nutrition and health programs, women and children displaced by the violence and attention to the mental health of Peruvian children. They recognized their role in maintaining their visibility, and pledged to coordinate and organize local, regional and national women’s groups, learn Spanish and engage in family planning.<ref>Corder, “Women in War,” 165-170.</ref> This effort to claim space for themselves in the public sphere shows the dedication of these women to their goals, and according to historian Steve Stern, “women’s new prominence as citizen-subjects, with their own political organizations and agendas, has left an important and probably irreversible legacy.”<ref>Steve Stern, <I>Shining and Other Paths</I>, 343.</ref>
