Colombia

Throughout its history, Colombia has faced numerous periods of conflict and violence, including the recent Colombian conflict that lasted more than 50 years. After the previous civil wars, Colombia was left with deep economic and social inequalities, a strong political division and a weak state structure. These factors would play an important role in the formation of two separate left-wing guerrilla movements in 1964, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). The formation of the FARC-EP and ELN is now seen as the starting point of a decade-long conflict in which the Colombian government, right-wing paramilitary organisations, crime syndicates and left-wing guerrilla groups fight for territorial control of the country.

In 2016, after more than five decades of conflict, the Colombian government and the FARC-EP signed a historic peace agreement that ended much of the violence in the country. By then, more than 220,000 people had been killed, mostly civilians, and more than five million civilians were internally displaced. Despite the enormous progress this agreement made towards peace, the country is still regularly plagued by violence committed by the various armed groups that still exist in the country.

The 2016 Peace Agreement included many provisions on gender equality and women’s rights, including some on conflict-related sexual violence. The Colombian government has taken positive steps to promote gender equality and justice, such as the 2008 Gender Equality Law (No. 1257), a 2014 law guaranteeing access to justice for victims of (conflict-related) sexual violence (No. 1719) and the creation of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition. However, levels of impunity for perpetrators are extremely high, and access to health care and other support services for survivors remains limited. Women’s organisations have also stated that survivors continue to face risks in reporting a crime and obstacles in accessing justice. Colombian survivors have been at the forefront of advocating for the rights of victims and survivors and of efforts to fight impunity in the country.

Meta con Mirada de Mujer is a women’s organisation in the Meta region of Colombia. The roots of the network go back to 1987, when a group of women came together to work towards providing adequate educational facilities for young children in their region. Since then, Meta con Mirada de Mujer has become a leading voice for women’s rights in Meta.

The mission of Meta con Mirada de Mujer is to ensure a dignified life for women, with SGBV being one of the three main areas of its work. As part of this mission, they organises various activities that promote the collective memory of women’s experiences of the Colombian conflict – including those of survivors of sexual violence – in the Meta region and beyond. In addition, the women of Meta con Mirada de Mujer have participated in numerous interviews and have been featured in articles and videos documenting the violence women faced in the conflict. Currently, Meta con Mirada de Mujer is collaborating with the Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica to create a physical and virtual memorial that includes the portraits and stories of survivors of CRSV in Colombia. Through this project, the stories of Colombian survivors will be broadcast worldwide.

Web page: Red de Mujeres del Meta