The United Nations (UN) called on Colombia to allocate legal resources to protect women against violence. Although such violence is illegal, the UN says that such crimes are still “committed with impunity” in Colombia.
Although the UN report, published on Friday, praised recent attempts in Colombia to decrease violence against women by enacting specific laws, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Violence Against Women said there was still a “certain pressure” within the courts to encourage reconciliation between victimized women with their violent aggressors during the initial stages of the judicial process.
“The Committee is concerned at the high prevalence of violence against women, in particular domestic and sexual violence, despite the comprehensive legal framework to address violence against women in the State party,” said the report.
To increase protection for women against violence, the committee called on Colombia to simplify court procedures, harmonize different opinions among the government, and increase coordination between institutions charged with the application of the law surrounding violence against women.
The panel of experts also recommended increasing the number of prosecutors and judges versed in laws relating to violence against women, as well as increasing the number of females judges to better represent the interests of women.
They also called for a 30 percent increase of females, especially representatives from Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations, in electoral politics to better represent the interests of women victimized by violence.
In regards to sexual crimes committed by illegal armed groups, the committee called on increased recognition of gender violence as a means of forced displacement, as well as effective measures for land restitution with government protection.
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The committee also called for increased access to birth control as well as ensuring access to legal abortion.
Furthermore, the committee called on the country to develop a strategy to “overcome the patriarchal stereotypes about the roles of men and women in society.”
Sources
- ONU pide a Colombia mayor protección de mujeres víctimas de violencia sexista (El Heraldo)
- Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Colombia (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women)