More than 800 women killed in Colombia in 2022: Forensics / News today

More than 800 women killed in Colombia in 2022: Forensics. EFE/ Miguel Gutierrez

Photo: MIGUEL GUTIERREZ – MIGUEL GUTIERREZ

Cases similar to that of 17-year-old Hilary Castro, who reported being robbed with a knife and forced to give oral sex to her attacker at a Transmilenio station in Bogotá. Or Lina María Quintero, who sold arepas in Villavicencio and was raped and impaled after she reported having excrement thrown on her grill, are some of the faces left by gender-based violence in Colombia. The scenario is not heartwarming, as evidenced by the figures from Medina Legal, which indicates that around 827 women have been killed so far this year.

Read here: Sexual violence in conflict: Justice and resilience

According to forensics, violent behavior in girls, adolescents and women is recorded by their emotional partners or close members of the family nucleus. And overall, victims are between the ages of 20 and 29, according to the report. On the international day to tackle gender-based violence, a UN Women’s Report highlights the panorama unfolding in Colombia in particular, because according to Bibiana Aido, the entity’s representative in Colombia, all forms of violence exist. .

Physical, political, verbal, psychological and sexual violence are just some of the behaviors that women are subjected to in the country. “We are concerned about political violence against women, violence against women human rights defenders. Therefore, it is important to build collective action from government institutions, families and society.” The delegate of the international organization underlined that although Colombia has a sound regulatory framework for combating violence against women, at the heart of the issue lies the resources provided by the State.

Also read: Man who raped and killed a girl in France had a history of sexual assault

However, for Aido, this reality can begin to be transformed with the Gustavo Petro government’s National Development Plan 2022-2026, which offers the opportunity to include a gender chapter that guarantees women’s rights. as well as allowing the enforcement and monitoring of laws to protect gender. However, the challenge of ensuring respect for women’s rights is educating society.

According to Aido, strengthening whistleblowing channels, providing comprehensive support for female victims and training institutions to ensure their safety, promoting sanctions for non-compliance are some of the solutions to the country’s panorama, not only in urban areas, but also in victimization. in rural areas. For example, the UN Women report shows that in regions such as Cauca, Chocó, Riohacha, Maicao, Santa Marta and Barranquilla, women are mostly victims of physical, sexual and psychological violence.

Read: Violence against women: Journalist beat up his girlfriend, media fired

In this sense, one of the most important challenges facing the current administration, according to UN Women, is to fill the institutional gaps that exist in regions hit by armed conflict and experiencing exploitation, violence and sexual abuse. harassment of girls, women and adolescents. In Latin America, femicide rates are concentrated in Honduras, Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Bolivia, and the region includes 14 of the 25 countries with the highest femicide rates in the world.