🇺🇸 🇬🇧 Peru: The madness of punitive street spankings

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Peru: the madness of punitive street spankings

Expeditious justice in 2023 (credit: local channel)

Cajamarca is a city of about 250,000 inhabitants in northern Peru, in the mountain valleys. The accidental female progenitor of the depraved spankee who plagues the male-on-male spanking community holds a concert there at least once a year with her band Antologia, even though she is against all forms of violence. This shows how much this city with its peculiar morals appeals to the Andeans!

Cajamarca is known in our community for its public spankings. So I asked Grok to tell us more.

The tradition you are referring to seems to be related to the practices of the "rondas campesinas" (rural patrols) and "rondas urbanas" (urban patrols) in Cajamarca, Peru. These community groups, formed by local residents, exercise a form of parallel justice to maintain order, combat crime, and resolve conflicts, often outside the official judicial system. Among their methods are public corporal punishments, such as whippings (latigazos or binzazos), which can be administered in the streets or public squares. Although "fessée" specifically evokes a slap on the buttocks, these punishments often involve strikes on the back, legs, or buttocks with a traditional whip (made of braided leather, like dried bull penis), and they are considered punitive and educational. Here is a detailed overview based on documented sources.

Origins ans History

The rondas campesinas emerged in 1976 in the Cajamarca region, initially to combat cattle theft (abigeato) in rural areas where the state was absent or ineffective. They drew inspiration from pre-Columbian Inca traditions, where the community administered collective justice to restore social harmony. Over the years, they expanded to urban areas of Cajamarca (rondas urbanas starting in 2003), in response to rising crime due to rural migration, mining exploitation (such as the Yanacocha mine), and the proliferation of bars and nightclubs associated with drugs and prostitution. Under Alberto Fujimori's regime in the 1990s, they were armed to fight the Shining Path, gaining power. Today, they are partially recognized by Peruvian law (Article 149 of the Constitution), but only for rural rondas campesinas; urban ones often operate on the margins, with tensions with authorities.

Functioning and Methods

The rondas patrol the streets at night, intervene in flagrante delicto or upon complaint, and organize public "audiencias" (hearings) where the community votes on guilt and sanctions. They handle thefts, domestic violence, infidelities, debts, or even family disputes. The punishments aim to "discipline" rather than imprison, as the ronderos believe prison creates hardened criminals. The methods include:

  • Whippings (latigazos or binzazos): Administered with a látigo (whip), often 5 to 30 strikes, during physical exercises like push-ups or squats, to extract confessions or as a sanction. This is done publicly to humiliate and educate, with family sometimes involved (for example, relatives whip the guilty party).
  • Other Punishments: Cold water baths, community service, or public exposure (like being tied naked on a cold hill).
  • After the Punishment: The guilty party is helped to reintegrate, and some even join the rondas.

These practices are seen as effective by the community, making the streets safer, but they are criticized for their brutality.

Concrete examples in Cajamarca

Controversies and Evolution

These punishments raise human rights concerns: The Defensoría del Pueblo (Peruvian ombudsman) condemns them as violations, prohibiting urban rondas from administering justice. Cases of torture or disappearances have been reported, although leaders claim they do not kill. The Peruvian Supreme Court limits their role to rural areas. Despite this, they persist due to distrust of corrupt and slow police. Today, they are evolving toward political roles, such as protests against mines.

Another view of street spanking

Below is another take on Grok, more focused on spanking or flogging.

The tradition you are referring to seems to be related to the practices of the "rondas urbanas" (urban patrols) in Cajamarca, Peru. These community vigilance groups, stemming from the rural "rondas campesinas" dating back to the 1970s and inspired by ancestral justice systems (sometimes evoked as dating from the Inca era), act as a form of alternative justice outside the official judicial system, which is perceived as slow and corrupt. They patrol neighborhoods, capture suspects for minor offenses (thefts, family disputes, adultery, threats, etc.) and administer public corporal punishments, often in the streets or on squares, to humiliate and rehabilitate the guilty.

The punishments typically include floggings with a whip made from twisted bull penis tendons, applied to the back or buttocks, which can be likened to a "punitive spanking" although it is more violent and ritualized. For example:

These practices aim for confession, restitution (such as paying damages) and community reintegration, with an emphasis on public shame rather than imprisonment. Although popular locally for their effectiveness and accessibility (especially for the poor), they are controversial: accused of human rights violations, torture, and abuse of power, even though ronda leaders claim they do more good than harm. Peruvian authorities sometimes tolerate these groups for tasks like crowd control, but officially disapprove of corporal punishments.

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