Intensification of gender-based violence in Colombia

For five days, from 18 to 22 November, two prominent representatives of the Colombian women’s human rights movement, who have a vital role in addressing conflict and building peace in Colombia, will be in London. Their purpose: to expose the intensification of violence against women, both inside and outside the armed conflict.

Ana Reyes-Hurt / ABColombia

They are Katerin Jurado Díaz and Yirley Judith Velasco Garrido, and they have been invited by ABColombia. Both are on the front lines, calling for justice, truth, and reparations for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and challenging the deeply rooted patriarchal norms that continue to fuel impunity and discrimination.

Katerin Jurado is the director of Sisma Mujer, a lawyer and human rights defender who leads national and international advocacy initiatives with a gender focus, on victims’ rights, and guarantees for women human rights defenders.

Jurado believes that impunity is “one of the reasons for the high murder rates: in 65% of cases, those responsible are unknown. In the cases where progress has been made in identifying the alleged perpetrators, most are the actual perpetrators, while the masterminds behind the crimes remain unknown. That is the general picture.”

Yirley Velasco faces continuous threats to her life for the work she is doing with survivors of sexual violence and bringing to justice the perpetrators in Montes de Maria, a region notorious for violence towards the civilian population. This year alone, there have been 68 cases of sexual violence, and nationwide, a staggering 352 cases of femicide were reported in the first five months of 2025.

According to Velasco (human rights defender from Mujeres Sembrando Vida), “women in leadership positions continue to be vulnerable to threats and attacks, not only because of what we do, but because of who we are. Promoting and protecting the rights of women and our communities is dangerous for us and our families, and we often wonder if we can keep going. But we must persist”.

Colombia’s 2016 Peace Accord set a global precedent by explicitly excluding amnesties for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, and also recognised the pivotal role women play in peacebuilding . This global precedent generated worldwide interest in Colombia’s Transitional Justice System (JEP), which marks a significant opportunity to secure justice and reparations for thousands of women and LGBTQI+ communities.

Gender equality is at the heart of lasting peace in Colombia, yet, despite groundbreaking advances, violence against women persists. Colombia was the worst country in the world for the number of killings of rights defenders in 2024 with 157 defenders killed. Women leaders and activists who speak out remain especially vulnerable, with 74 recorded incidents of aggression against them in the past 6 months.

For her part, Louise Winstanley, Programme and Advocacy Manager at ABColombia -the organisation behind the two defenders’ visit to London-, explains that “the “Colombian women activists put their lives on the line demanding justice for women survivors of sexual violence. It is essential that armed actors – legal and illegal – admit their guilt, something that they have not been willing to do, because, from past experience of demobilisation processes in Colombia, we know that armed actors consider this to be the one crime they cannot justify to families”. (Winstanley has been working on issues to do with peace, human rights, the environment and business in Colombia since 2003.)

The UK government has long championed the prevention of conflict related sexual violence in Colombia and has played a pivotal role in supporting Colombia’s implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord. This visit serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need for international support to continue, despite the changing geopolitical situation, if peace is to be consolidated in Colombia.

One case, one region

In September, women human rights defenders in Montes de Maria, including Yirley Velasco, were among many activists and social leaders who received death threats from illegal armed groups targeting feminist organisations and land rights defenders. The threats included names of individuals and organisations who were warned that they were enemies of the “social order” and needed to be “cleansed”. This is the most recent threat received by women’s organisations in the region, as part of a pattern of aggressions against them aimed at preventing them from exposing gender-based violations and sexual abuse.

The region of Montes de María has witnessed one of the worst and bloodiest massacres in the history of the armed conflict. Between 16 and 23 February 2000, paramilitaries entered the town of El Salado and massacred approximately 60 people. Victims of the massacre also showed signs of sexual violence and torture. The massacre led to the forced displacement of about 3,500 people, including Yirley Velasco, who returned years later.