Seeking Justice for Victims of the Guatemalan Sexually Transmitted Disease Experiments 1946–1948

Abstract

Between 1946 and 1948, researchers sponsored by the United States government intentionally exposed more than 1,300 Guatemalan 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, and similar illnesses. But the general public did not become aware of these non-consensual human experiments for more than sixty years. After a researcher uncovered the experiments, the United States 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 Guatemalan 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 United States government is immune from formal legal liability, the government and the corporate interests that benefitted 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 Guatemalan 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 non-consensual human experimentation in that country and why the victims have been unable to obtain formal legal recognition for their suffering. * Susan S. Lee will begin her career as Judge Advocate Officer in the United States Air Force in 2020. She is a graduate of North Carolina State University (BA 2015) and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (JD 2019). Aurora Grutman is an independent researcher based in New York City. Affiliations are listed for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are those of the individual authors alone and do not represent the views of any employer or affiliated institution. 39.2 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF GENDER AND LAW 55