Displaced Women and Girls in Colombia

AWID interviews Patricia Guerrero from the Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas
(League of Displaced Women) in Colombia about their work, the threats they
face, and the recent arson of their community centre.

By Rochelle Jones

Translated from the Spanish by Lina Gomez and Fernanda Hopenhaym, with
assistance from Anna Turley.

AWID: Colombia has one of the largest internally displaced populations in
the world. Tell us about the work of Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas, and
particularly about the reasons behind the displacement of women and
children in Colombia's Atlantic Coast region.

Patricia Guerrero (PG): The Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas (LMD) is a
grassroots organization made up of over 200 women of different ethnicities
and their families. They are displaced women from different regions of the
country such as the Department of Bolivar, Antioquia, los Santanderes,
Choco and Guajira. 

These women have been displaced as a result of Colombia's longstanding
internal conflict, which has been going on for more than 40 years. They
have been displaced by all the groups involved in the war: paramilitary
forces, guerilla groups and by the state itself. This displacement has
worsened in the last 10 years due to territorial disputes between illegal
armed groups fighting for control over land.

Women, girls and boys are most affected by this phenomenon. Over 54% of the
internally displaced are widows and female heads of households.  Women have
been victims of serious war crimes particularly gender-based violence such
as sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced abortions, forced
recruitment and rape. These crimes have been perpetrated against some of
the women of our organization. Moreover, since its foundation in 1997, the
LMD has been the target of several assaults that go from murder, forced
disappearance, kidnappings, and robbery to persecutions and death threats
against the organization's leaders and their families. The LMD's main
project is the Centro Comunitario en la Ciudad de las Mujeres (Women's City
Community Center), the home of over 500 people.

Some of the activities that the LMD is developing through the Women's City
project include: a women's cooperative called "MujerCoop", a line of credit
and a shelter that is used as a day care facility for over 100 children.
Women from this project also work on re-location issues directly with the
municipal authorities and advocate for the implementation of public
policies that protect women's rights and internally displaced people's
rights. Additionally, this project works on accountability issues, and also
conducts participatory action-research in order to unveil the lack of
funding for women's rights restitution initiatives. As a result of this
work, the LMD has made complaints against the mayor to the Public Ministry
and consequently, he is being investigated for negligence and fiscal
obstruction.           

The Women's City has been the only social housing project for displaced
people in the region in the last three years, which highlights the
incompetence of the government as compared with the power of women
organizing.

As a consequence of the social and armed conflict, the Atlantic Coast is
one of the regions that has been most affected by forced displacement.
Among the armed groups present in this area there is the FARC, the ELN and
various paramilitary fronts. The Caribbean region is one of the country's
richest in cattle farming, land and natural resources such as charcoal. It
is also one of the least developed regions with high poverty levels and
very poor living conditions. Additionally, this region has a high incidence
of drug trafficking and wealth is concentrated among a few families. These
families have been historically linked to both the local and regional power
structure and to the so-called "para-politics" —politicians involved with
the paramilitaries and narco-trafficking activities. The Caribbean region
is also highly affected by corruption at all levels. A large number of
massacres have taken place in this region where mass graves with hundreds
of bodies - assassinated by the paramilitaries in the last 10 years - have
been found.
           
AWID: In January, the Women's City Community Centre in Turbaco was the
target of an arson attack and destroyed. What happened?

PG: The LMD's main project, Centro Comunitario en la Ciudad de las Mujeres
(Women's City Community Centre), was set on fire on the night of January
20th.  Criminals started the fire while the women were asleep in their
homes. This center was going to be used as a school facility for 144 girls
and boys from the organization and neighboring communities.    

AWID: Why is the League being threatened and by whom, and what is it that
makes your work such a threat?

PG: We believe there are many reasons why we are being threatened. Firstly,
we are being threatened because we are trying to restore the social fabric
of the region based on the principles of equality, no discrimination, no
violence, no corruption and we stand against everything else that is
detrimental to the population in the region. Historically, corrupt
politicians have used death threats to frighten and intimidate community
leaders.

Secondly, some of the League's displaced women witnessed crimes perpetrated
by paramilitary members that are currently being prosecuted. Thirdly, the
process of paramilitary disarmament, demobilization and reintegration that
is being implemented in Colombia is rather atypical because it is taking
place in the middle of the conflict. The paramilitary demobilization is not
being properly monitored by the local authorities. It has been proven that
demobilized paramilitary groups are taking advantage of unclear amnesty
laws to return to their criminal activities and are continuing to persecute
social and community leaders. Two women leaders that have witnessed crimes
perpetrated by the paramilitary were assassinated within the last two weeks
in Colombia. 

AWID: What has happened since the fire, and what is the government doing in
response?

PG: The typical response from the local authorities is to militarize the
'City of Women', to create "security fronts". We have strongly refused to
be part of these 'security fronts' as we want to be identified solely as
civil society actors. Women's security is not about having a police officer
or a soldier at our side. We want human security that implies the
restitution of our human rights, that justice is done, that the facts are
investigated, that there are public policies for women, investment in the
community, education for our children, health, and the possibility to live
a life with dignity and without fear.

AWID: How have other organisations responded to this incident?

PG: With solidarity. Social organizations and women's organizations have
demonstrated a lot of solidarity with us. Some women from the Colombian
Congress have written to us and are demanding a response from the
authorities. The UNHCR, European Union, the US embassy and the Canadian
embassy have also shown solidarity with us. A Security Council has been set
up to address this issue, but so far none of those responsible for this
crime have been detained.

Women's organizations in particular, have shown great solidarity. AWID,
through Lydia Alpizar, has been very attentive to my security and my
family's. The Urgent Action for Women has also offered its support. The
Global Fund for Women, for which I'm an advisor, has sent a letter to the
Colombian president demanding security and a response to this case.

I have felt really surrounded by women. It has always been like this, and I
thank them with all my heart. I could never have done what I've done without
women's solidarity and love.

AWID: I know that UNHCR has been working to address the internal
displacement of people in Colombia, but this latest incident seems to be an
escalation of the violence. How can the international community help?

UNHCR has made an international statement about the case of the Displaced
Women's League. They have expressed their concern and have demanded
protection by the Colombian Government. In addition they have declared 2007
as the year for the rights of the displaced population in Colombia.

A new law that is currently passing through Congress will declare 2007 as
the year of the displaced population with the aim of calling attention to
this critical problem in Colombia - more than 4 million people are
displaced. We are meeting with the congresswoman who is driving this law.
She wants to understand our point of view. The UN radio station has also
interviewed us, which was an opportunity to once again place the subject of
women's rights violations in Colombia on the agenda.

The European Union has committed to the reconstruction of the Community
Center and we are working hard to be able to rebuild it as soon as
possible. At the same time, the US Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy has
made a strong statement against the attack on the Displaced Women's League,
in the Los Angeles Times.

AWID: How do you stay strong, Patricia? What keeps you going?

PG: I've been fighting for women's rights in Colombia for over 20 years.
First, I did it for the women in the flower industry who face serious
problems. I worked with imprisoned women whose rights were violated - they
were not allowed to have their children with them nor conjugal visits. As a
human rights lawyer, I was the first woman judge in Colombia to speak out
about the possibility of rape inside marriage. I advocated for the
decriminalization of abortion before the Constitutional Court and I did it
from the perspective of women who had been raped during the armed conflict
in order to outline their right to restitution.

Currently I am advocating against government actions that impede
investigation into the crime of forced displacement before the State
Council. I have done research into impunity in the case of displaced women
and into gender based violence. I founded the Displaced Women's League nine
years ago and in 2005 we were nominated for the national peace award.
Recently we received an honorable mention for the II King of Spain award
for Human Rights. I also have three daughters.

As you see, I'm very busy, and it's the women and my conviction that we
have less and less time to take the world from the hands of the violent,
the exploiters and the criminals against humanity, that gives me the
strength to continue my struggle.