Between 1946 and 1948, researchers sponsored by the United States government intentionally expose... more Between 1946 and 1948, researchers sponsored by the United States government intentionally exposed more than 1,300 men and women to sexually transmitted diseases without their informed consent. Many of the surviving victims and their descendants suffer from the effects of untreated syphilis, gonorrhea, or similar illnesses. But the general public did not become aware of these nonconsensual human experiments for more than sixty years. After a researcher uncovered the experiments, the U.S. government apologized to the Guatemalan victims, but the victims received no compensation for their injuries. So far, the efforts of the victims to receive legal redress for their injuries have been unsuccessful.
This Article has two aims—one descriptive and the other conceptual. First, it seeks to bring awareness to the history and legacy of the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments. Second, it argues that litigation—even if unsuccessful—can play a role in amplifying the victims’ voices in a way that acknowledges their pain and helps to repair harm that was done. Even if the U.S. government is immune from formal legal liability, the government, together with the corporate interests that benefited from the Guatemalan experiments, have a moral obligation to compensate the victims. The lens of reproductive justice makes clear this obligation. By critically investigating the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments and their legacy, one can better understand how gender, race, socioeconomic class, geopolitical power and even geography informed the initial decision to conduct nonconsensual human experimentation in that country and why the victims have been unable to obtain formal legal recognition for their suffering.
Between 1946 and 1948, researchers sponsored by the United States government intentionally expose... more Between 1946 and 1948, researchers sponsored by the United States government intentionally exposed more than 1,300 men and women to sexually transmitted diseases without their informed consent. Many of the surviving victims and their descendants suffer from the effects of untreated syphilis, gonorrhea, or similar illnesses. But the general public did not become aware of these nonconsensual human experiments for more than sixty years. After a researcher uncovered the experiments, the U.S. government apologized to the Guatemalan victims, but the victims received no compensation for their injuries. So far, the efforts of the victims to receive legal redress for their injuries have been unsuccessful.
This Article has two aims—one descriptive and the other conceptual. First, it seeks to bring awareness to the history and legacy of the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments. Second, it argues that litigation—even if unsuccessful—can play a role in amplifying the victims’ voices in a way that acknowledges their pain and helps to repair harm that was done. Even if the U.S. government is immune from formal legal liability, the government, together with the corporate interests that benefited from the Guatemalan experiments, have a moral obligation to compensate the victims. The lens of reproductive justice makes clear this obligation. By critically investigating the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments and their legacy, one can better understand how gender, race, socioeconomic class, geopolitical power and even geography informed the initial decision to conduct nonconsensual human experimentation in that country and why the victims have been unable to obtain formal legal recognition for their suffering.
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This Article has two aims—one descriptive and the other conceptual. First, it seeks to bring awareness to the history and legacy of the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments. Second, it argues that litigation—even if unsuccessful—can play a role in amplifying the victims’ voices in a way that acknowledges their pain and helps to repair harm that was done. Even if the U.S. government is immune from formal legal liability, the government, together with the corporate interests that benefited from the Guatemalan experiments, have a moral obligation to compensate the victims. The lens of reproductive justice makes clear this obligation. By critically investigating the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments and their legacy, one can better understand how gender, race, socioeconomic class, geopolitical power and even geography informed the initial decision to conduct nonconsensual human experimentation in that country and why the victims have been unable to obtain formal legal recognition for their suffering.
This Article has two aims—one descriptive and the other conceptual. First, it seeks to bring awareness to the history and legacy of the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments. Second, it argues that litigation—even if unsuccessful—can play a role in amplifying the victims’ voices in a way that acknowledges their pain and helps to repair harm that was done. Even if the U.S. government is immune from formal legal liability, the government, together with the corporate interests that benefited from the Guatemalan experiments, have a moral obligation to compensate the victims. The lens of reproductive justice makes clear this obligation. By critically investigating the Guatemala sexually transmitted disease experiments and their legacy, one can better understand how gender, race, socioeconomic class, geopolitical power and even geography informed the initial decision to conduct nonconsensual human experimentation in that country and why the victims have been unable to obtain formal legal recognition for their suffering.