PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Phone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@menandboys.net
Peru’s Data Tells a Clear Story—Persistent Inequalities Affect Men Nationwide
December 19, 2025 – Statistics in Peru reveal a growing and largely overlooked pattern of challenges affecting men and boys across education, health, safety, and work.
Education
Data shows a widening gender gap in higher education that disadvantages men. Male tertiary enrollment stands at 68.4%, compared to 74% for women (1), with women comprising 53% of new entrants (2). Completion rates reflect the same imbalance: 44% of women finish bachelor’s degrees on time, compared to 36% of men, suggesting persistent structural barriers for male students (3).
Health
Male life expectancy is 75.8 years, nearly five years lower than the 80.5 years recorded for women (4). Adult mortality further reflects this disparity, with 136.9 deaths per 1,000 men versus 92.6 per 1,000 women (5).
Homicide
Men face greater exposure to lethal violence. The homicide rate for men is 13.13 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than three times the rate for women at 3.99 (6).
Suicide
Suicide data reveal a marked gender imbalance: men die by suicide at a rate of 2.3 per 100,000, compared to 0.8 per 100,000 among women (7)(8).
Domestic Violence
Men account for 14% of all reported domestic violence cases nationwide, totaling 2,882, reported Ariana García, a psychologist and professor at the Graduate School of Universidad Continental. She cautioned that “the men who suffer the most violence are children, adolescents, and older adults.”Many cases remain unreported due to shame, cultural barriers, and social stigma (9).
There are 43 shelters for female victims of violence across Peru (10), but no evidence of shelters for male victims has been reported.
Workplace
Latest injury data show a stark gender divide related to workplace injuries. Of 34,873 reported occupational accidents, 29,140 involved men and just 5,773 involved women (11).
Conclusion
These disparities demand recognition and targeted action to ensure that gender equality in Peru includes men and boys.
The International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB) is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. ICMB has conducted analyses of male disadvantage in over 50 countries around the world. These analyses are available here: https://www.menandboys.net/country/
Links
1.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/se-ter-enrr?gender=male
2.https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/09/education-at-a-glance-2024-country-notes_532eb29d/peru_2867d301/0050c0c8-en.pdf#:~:text=Women%20are%20significantly%20over%2Drepresented%20in%20tertiary%20education,compared%20with%20an%20OECD%20average%20of%2056%25.
3.https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2025_1a3543e2-en/peru_0afa65c8-en.html
4.https://georank.org/life-expectancy/peru#:~:text=Peru%20life%20expectancy%20&%20odds%20of%20living,and%2078.1%20years%20for%20both%20genders%20combined.
5.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-amrt?gender=male
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homicide_statistics_by_gender
7.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.MA.P5
8.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.FE.P5
9.https://andina.pe/agencia/noticia-la-otra-cara-de-violencia-denuncian-cerca-3000-casos-maltrato-a-hombres-665120.aspx
10.https://rpp.pe/peru/actualidad/solo-existen-43-hogares-de-refugio-temporal-para-mujeres-victimas-de-violencia-en-todo-el-peru-noticia-1510349
11.https://www.redalyc.org/journal/290/29062641021/html/?utm