Libres ! Combating gender-based violence in Colombia

Gender-based violence and violence against LGBTIQ+ persons is a global problem. It exists in Colombia and reflects inequalities and social and gender discrimination. It is a process involving a systematic control and reproduction of gender inequalities, identified in various scenarios by women's rights observatories and other study tools at the national and territorial levels.

According to the report Women and Men: Gender Gaps in Colombia (second edition, 2022) published by UN Women, the National Administrative Department of Statistics and the High Presidential Council for Women's Equity, women and girls are at constant risk of experiencing gender-based types of violence, regardless of their socio-demographic or socio-economic conditions. In addition, this violence occurs in all the spheres in which they interact, such as public spaces, schools, at work and in government institutions.

Furthermore, gender-based violence has been exacerbated in the context of armed conflict in the country and in areas where armed actors have imposed dynamics to control the population based on gender models and stereotypes, generating different types of risks, as well as disproportionate effects on women. According to the Central Register of Victims, in August 2022, 31,811 women and 569 LGBTIQ+ women were recorded as subjects of attention for crimes against freedom and sexual integrity in the armed conflict.

The situation of persisting social and gender inequalities, along with the long-standing presence of armed conflict in the Pacific region of the country, especially highlight the need to continue to work on combating gender-based violence in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments.

The LIBRES ! is an initiative of the European Union Delegation to Colombia and its Member States present in the country. They have initiated a coordination process for the implementation of a cooperation operation focused on combating gender-based violence.

This action is part of the European Union’s policy for gender equality and empowering women and girls, in line with SDG n°5, with the aim of eliminating all forms of violence against them in Colombia. In this respect, the project aims to contribute to the implementation of a comprehensive public policy to combat gender-based violence in   Colombia through multi-stakeholder coordination for the protection and empowerment of women, girls and LGBTIQ+ persons and their access to a life free of violence.

The action mainly focuses on strengthening strategies to prevent and combat gender-based violence, and on protection and care for girls, women and LGBTIQ+ persons in Colombia. It aims to strengthen coordination between the various stakeholders involved in combating gender-based violence and LGBTIQphobia, including local authorities, women’s organisations and feminist organisations, LGBTIQ+ organisations and the affected population, and thereby improve the overall response to this problem.

The project takes on its full meaning in Colombia given the situation of violence in the country, where women, girls and LGBTIQ+ persons are particularly affected by this type of violence and face high levels of discrimination and exclusion. This is especially the case in the two departments Valle del Cauca and Cauca where a significant proportion of this violence and discrimination takes place.

It has been designed based on a qualitative analysis, using approaches for human rights, gender equality, interculturality and intersectionality. It also involves inter-institutional coordination and coordination between public and civil society stakeholders. This is based on an analysis of the demands and needs of women and LGBTIQ+ persons, and the challenges and good practices of the public policy in terms of these groups.

The planning for these activities focuses on the work and contribution of women’s organisations, feminist organisations and LGBTIQ+ organisations in the search for effective responses to the structural problems of gender-based violence, as well as on the predominant role of the State in guaranteeing human rights.

The project is based on three lines of action, implemented jointly with AECID, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Ministry of Equality and Equity.

1. Improve institutional capacity for the implementation of the comprehensive public policy on gender-based violence, and strengthen the protection and care services for victims of this violence through an intersectional approach. 
   Implementation: AECID, the Ministry of Equality and Equity and Expertise France.
2. Promote strategies for institutional and social change, with the aim of eradicating cultural stereotypes that perpetuate gender-based violence and violence based on sexual orientation. 
   Implementation: AECID and the Ministry of Equality and Equity.
3. Strengthen public-private and public-community partnerships for the economic empowerment of women and LGBTIQ+ individuals victims of gender-based violence. 
   Implementation: Expertise France.

Component 1

• Capacity building to ensure access to justice in cases of gender-based violence in Valle del Cauca.
• Strengthen women’s and LGBTIQ+ organisations and networks of civil society organisations in the fight against gender-based violence.

Component 3

• Support the development of projects to introduce fees for the economic empowerment of women in order to break the cycle of gender-based violence. This comprises technical assistance to public entities for the orientation of entrepreneurship projects with a gender and feminist approach.
• Support the creation and implementation of pathways to employability, entrepreneurship and formalisation for women and LGBTIQ+ persons victims of gender-based violence.
• Support the creation of public-private partnerships to promote initiatives for the economic empowerment of women and LGBTIQ+ persons victims of gender-based violence.
• Promote the inclusion of good workplace practices with a gender perspective in public and private entities.