Amnesty International USA

COLOMBIA ISSUE BRIEF

Day 1 of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence 2011

Women suffer widespread and systematic sexual violence in the Colombian armed conflict

“Sexual violence against women is a habitual, extensive, systematic, and invisible practice in the Colombian armed conflict.”

-- Colombia’s Constitutional Court

Civilians have been the main victims of Colombia’s long-running armed conflict. All warring parties have perpetrated serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including the systematic and widespread sexual violence against women and girls.

Millions of women,men, and children have also been forcibly displaced, unlawfully killed, tortured and been victims ofenforced disappearances. Between three and five million people have been forcibly displaced over thelast 25 years. Civilians have not simplybeen “caught in the crossfire” but have routinely been directly and deliberately targeted.

Moreover, thearmed conflict is exposing women and girls, in particular, to gender-specific conflict-related sexual violence. The impunity for those responsible ensures that such crimes continue and enhances the terror these crimesgenerate.

Amnesty International’s recent report, “This is What We Demand. Justice!” Impunity for Sexual Violence Against Women in Colombia’s Armed Conflict, details the obstacles girls and women face when seeking justice after experiencing rape and other types of conflict-related sexual violence. In the context of the internal armed conflict sexual violence can constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Impunity for such crimes has been a reality of the Colombian armed conflict for decades; this is particularly the case with conflict-related sexual crimes.

All the parties to the long-running Colombian armed conflict – paramilitaries, members of the security forces and guerrilla combatants, have subjected women and girls to widespread and systematic sexual violence. While some women and girls have been targeted for reasons other than their gender, many have been sexually abused and exploited simply because they are women – to exploit them as sexual slaves; to sow terror within communities and so make it easier for military control to be imposed; to force whole families to flee their homes and allow land to be appropriated; and to wreak revenge on adversaries.

The facts and figures regarding women in the ongoing conflict in Colombia are startling:

  • In 2010, more than 280,000 people were internally displaced, most of the women and children
  • In 2010, over 20,000 examinations into suspected cases of sexual assault were carried out
  • Over 84% of these cases were of girls under the age of 18
  • 82% of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence did not report it
  • Very few of the 20,000 suspected cases of sexual assault are investigated: in addition to the 183 cases of sexual violence which the Constitutional Court ordered the Attorney General to investigate, only a further 68 cases of conflict-related sexual violence are under

Perpetrators of sexual assault in Colombia operate with broad impunity. Impunity exists for numerous reasons, including the lack of political will on the part of successive governments to take decisive action to end conflict-related violence against women such as decisive action to dismantle judicial and other mechanisms which favor impunity; a lack of security for survivors and witnesses; an inadequate judicial system; and inadequate medical, psychosocial and financial support for survivors.

Colombian authorities must fulfill their international obligations to ensure respect for the right of survivors to truth, justice and reparation!

You can take action online (in Spanish) to help protect women and girls in Colombia. Additionally, you can write a letterto President Santos and call on the Colombian government to:

  • Condemn Violence Against Women in the context of the conflict; to send a clear message that VAW is widespread and that this violence must be acknowledged and condemned by the Colombian Government and the international community and must therefore be urgently addressed
  • End impunity in cases of sexual violence committed in the context of the armed conflict and to recognize conflict-related sexual violence cases as war crimes and crimes against humanity
  • Commits to taking concrete and practical measures to end impunity in cases of Violence Against Women, in line with its obligations to exercise due diligence in ending such violence.
  • Abide by its international obligations to guarantee the rights of women and girls not to be subjected to violence, in line with its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

Send your letters to:

President

Señor Juan Manuel Santos

Presidente de la República

Palacio de Nariño

Carrera 8 No.7-26, Bogotá, Colombia

Fax: +57 1 596 0631

Drafted 11/21/11 by AIUSA’s Women’s Human Rights Coordination Group

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