Women's Bodies Used As A Battleground

October 13, 2004 – (Amnesty) By sowing terror, exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, armed groups in Colombia have turned women’s bodies into a battleground.

During the course of Colombia’s 40-year-old conflict, all the armed groups – the security forces, army-backed paramilitaries and the guerrilla – have sexually abused or exploited women and girls. They have sought to control the most intimate parts of women’s lives.

These violations, committed against civilians and armed group’s own combatants, have remained behind a wall of silence, hidden by discrimination and impunity.

In early May 2003, rapes, killings and other attacks against civilians allegedly carried out by soldiers identifying themselves paramilitaries in Tame Municipality, Arauca Department, led to the displacement of over 500 people. In the village of Parreros, armed men raped and killed pregnant 16-year-old Omaira Fernández, and then ripped open her belly. According to one source, “[t]hey opened her up in front of everyone. The bodies of the girl and the baby were thrown in the river.”

Guerrilla forces have also been responsible for repeated cases of violence against women, including rape. One woman told how she was raped by a FARC guerrilla: "He raped me and told me that it was a little reminder… not to get mixed up with soldiers”

Yet despite the gravity of such crimes, no real efforts have been made to fully investigate them, to bring to justice those responsible, or to prevent these atrocities happening in future.

All sides to the conflict must take action. Guerrilla forces must commit to upholding international humanitarian law. The Colombian government must act to prevent and punish all acts of violence against women. Only then will the people of Colombia have the opportunity to build a future safe from the threat of violence against women.

From: http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/col-131004-action-eng