At least 28 people were victims of sexual and other gender-based violence during the crackdown on the 2021 anti-government protests, according to an Amnesty International report that urges that these abuses be taken into account before any police reforms are undertaken.
The report ‘The Police do not take care of me: Sexual and other gender-based violence in the National Strike of 2021’ documents cases against women and LGTBI people, giving as an example violent behaviors perpetrated by members of the security forces, especially agents of the National Police and its Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD).
Amnesty’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, denounced that «it is clear that gender violence was used by the National Police as a tool of repression to punish those who dared to raise their voices and protest», with behaviors ranging from the use of sexist, misogynist and abusive language to sexual violence, which can in turn constitute a form of torture.
«Gender-based violence, and especially sexual violence, has a painful history in the context of Colombia’s armed conflict: a history that the authorities have not yet overcome,» lamented Callamard, whose NGO has received «hundreds» of complaints.
The documented cases took place in Cali, Popayán, Soledad, Tunja, Manizales and Bogotá and show that violence against women and LGTBI people was also linked to other factors of discrimination, such as race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. In addition, victims dedicated to journalism and the defense of human rights suffered attacks characterized by machismo, homophobia and other forms of hatred and stigmatization, according to Amnesty.
As for the circumstances of the abuses, these took place mainly during the actions of the National Police to disperse the protests and in the framework of the arrests that followed the initial intervention. All of this, with a common objective: «Their perpetrators intended to punish those who were demonstrating for questioning social gender norms and for taking to the streets to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.»
The events took place during the government of Iván Duque, the head of Amnesty has urged the current president, Gustavo Petro, to condemn «all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and «demand» its end. To this end, she added, «all allegations related to the 2021 National Strike must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable» and the underlying causes of the violence must be addressed.
