COLOMBIA: Violence Against Women in the Armed
Conflict WASHINGTON, DC, 5th December 2006 - The
actors in the Colombian armed conflict, in particular the paramilitary groups
and the guerrilla, employ physical, sexual and psychological violence against
women as a strategy of war. This is one of the most alarming conclusions of a
report prepared by the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Women of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that became public this week.
Violence and Discrimination Against Women in the Armed Conflict in
Colombia also reveals that discrimination against women aggravates the
impact of the violence on them, their families and communities. The report also
reviews the particularly critical situation of indigenous and Afro-descendent
women, who confront not only the consequences of gender-based discrimination,
but also those derived from their ethnic or racial background.
The report
addresses the recruitment of girls and young women by armed groups such as the
AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Colombia). Girls are raped and forced to place intrauterine
devices and even to practice abortions. The report states that "paramilitary
leaders [….] order the search of girls between the ages of 12 and 14 to live
with them, provide sexual services and perform domestic duties". In the course
of the investigations, the IACHR received information about a young pregnant
woman that was murdered as a reprisal for having escaped. Her baby was removed
from her womb and displayed as a symbol to discourage other girls in the same
situation from escaping.
The IACHR also considers alarming that all
armed actors in the conflict commit aggressions against organisations working to
defend the rights of women. The report indicates that armed actors find that
"the leadership exercised by women’s rights organisations challenges the extent
of their social and territorial control". This has led “to the systematic
intimidation, persecution, kidnapping, torture and sexual abuse” of
representatives from these organisations.
Forms of violence resulting
from the armed conflict have fueled the forced displacement of more than two
million persons, with a high percentage of families headed by women (four out of
ten). The report discusses how displaced women suffer discrimination from the
armed groups that generate the displacement and the receiving communities. The
investigation confirmed that when women seek justice, they receive an inadequate
treatment and response from the judicial branch. This increases their fear to
report the crimes and their mistrust in the capacity of the judicial instances
to remedy the violations of their rights. This also promotes an environment of
impunity which perpetuates the treatment of women as spoils of war by the armed
actors.
Colombia stands out for the adoption of key norms and public
policies that recognise and protect the rights of women, as well as the
jurisprudential advances of its Constitutional Court. Despite these measures,
the absence of an integral State policy is evident that addresses the specific
impact of the armed conflict on women with a coordinated and multidisciplinary
approach that includes the specific needs of women throughout the national
territory. The report discusses how "the State seems to lack an integral vision
and an effective preparation to address the consequences of violence and
discrimination that the conflict imposes on women. The existing policy framework
does not provide an adequate base for the implementation of integral programmes
and services for victims that include the justice, education and health
sectors." The report formulates recommendations to the State to redress this
situation.
Visit:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=11727&flag=reportFor
more information, contact:
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
1889
F St. N.W., Washington DC, US
Tel: +1 202 458 6002
Email:
cidhoea@aos.org