Peruvian parliamentary group Juntos por el Peru has presented a bill in the Congress of the Republic of Peru to punish assaults against teachers and educational personnel with up to eight years in prison.
The legislative initiative was submitted by Lawmaker Marino Lavado Valdivia along with six other members of congress. The proposal seeks to amend Peru's Penal Code to establish specific criminal penalties for varying degrees of physical injuries inflicted on teachers, principals, teaching assistants, and guidance personnel in both public and private schools.
Penalties for Physical Assaults
Under the proposed legislation, criminal sanctions are categorized according to the severity of physical harm inflicted on an educational worker. A serious injury would carry a prison sentence ranging from four to eight years.
If an assault results in the death of a teacher or staff member, the proposed prison penalty would increase to between 15 and 20 years in prison.
For minor injuries, the bill establishes a prison term of three to six years, accompanied by legal disqualification for the attacker. To apply these penalties, prosecutors must prove that the offender knew the victim worked at an educational institution and that the attack was connected to the performance of their official duties.
Increased Penalties for Coercion
The proposed legislation also addresses the crime of coercion against school staff, which currently carries a maximum prison penalty of two years under the Peruvian Penal Code.
Under the new bill, any individual who uses violence or threats to force an educator to change a student's grade, cancel an administrative sanction, or refrain from notifying parents would face between two and four years in prison.
The same prison term of two to four years would apply to anyone who attempts to prevent a teacher or staff member from making those administrative and academic decisions.
Parliamentary Group and Legislative Context
Juntos por el Peru is a left-wing political coalition and parliamentary caucus in the Congress of the Republic of Peru, the country's unicameral legislative body headquartered in the capital city of Lima.
As a parliamentary bench within the national assembly, its members draft and sponsor legislation to modify national statutes, including the Penal Code of Peru, which governs criminal offenses across all public and private institutions in the country.
The proposed legislation extends formal legal protection across all levels of basic education in Peru, covering public schools operated by the Ministry of Education as well as privately managed educational institutions.
Recent Incident at Liceo Naval
The legislative proposal arrived several days after a rape complaint involving a fourth-year high school student at the Liceo Naval Almirante Guise, a private school located in the San Borja district of Lima.
The individuals under investigation in that case are fifth-year high school students at the institution. A court subsequently ordered four months of preventive detention for six teenagers in connection with the ongoing investigation.
Following the report, teachers from the school spoke to the press regarding safety concerns and student behavior. One educator told local television news outlet Latina Noticias that some students had previously used their parents' military ranks in the Peruvian Navy to exert pressure on teaching staff.
The teacher also reported that school administration failed to issue sanctions after a video circulated showing a student threatening a teacher over academic grades.
