¿Quién aborta?: Considering queer and decolonial approaches to the visual politics of abortion rights activism in Peru

Since the repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, much has been written about what activists and scholars in the US can learn from Latin America. This has tended to focus on the successes of abortion rights movements in countries like Argentina or Mexico. However, there are important insights to be gained from contexts, like Peru, where activists face extreme opposition. This article considers abortion rights activism in Peru as a site of critical feminist knowledge through analysis of the music video ‘¿Quién aborta?’, featuring Indigenous rapper Nina Lu and produced by feminist audiovisual collective Chola Contravisual. The song poses the question: ‘who aborts?’ Taking this as a provocation, I use this music video and the work of Peruvian abortion activists as a lens through which to re-examine the politics of Latin American reproductive rights activism from a queer and decolonial perspective. Drawing on fieldwork on contemporary feminist performance protests in Peru, I argue that activists like Nina Lu and Chola Contravisual represent a significant shift in the feminist movement. In a context marked by political instability and powerful conservative forces, their approach centres queer Indigenous bodies.