»Während des kolumbianischen Nationalstreiks 2021 setzten staatliche und nichtstaatliche Akteure systematisch geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt ein«

Since April 2021, a series of mobilizations, collectively known as the National Strike (Paro Nacional), have erupted in Colombia, triggered by tax reforms proposed by the government of then president Iván Duque, amid a grave social, economic and health crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Police intervened at different times to control mobilizations and protests and used excessive and disproportionate force; conduct that was documented and criticized by various civil society organizations and by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). As a result, thousands of people sustained serious injuries caused by the inappropriate or unlawful use of lethal and less lethal weapons, and dozens lost their lives at the hands of the security forces.

Despite extensive coverage and social mobilization for the rights of victims of police violence, cases of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, were overshadowed by other human rights violations and crimes under international law during the National Strike. The common factor in all cases is the intention behind this use of violence: the perpetrators sought to punish the victims for contravening social gender norms and going out onto the streets to claim their rights.

Amnesty International received hundreds of reports of gender-based violence during the National Strike. The cases reported include psychological violence, threats of sexual violence, violence due to prejudice against LGBTI people, groping and sexual harassment, forced nudity, gender-based discrimination, torture and rape experienced by Afro-descendant women Indigenous women, as well as women human rights defenders, journalists, reporters and members of health brigades, mothers who accompanied the demonstrations and, in general, women who participated in the protests. Amnesty International, with the support of various human rights organizations that support survivors of gender-based violence, documented 28 such cases in the cities of Cali and Palmira (Valle del Cauca), Popayán (Cauca), Soledad (Atlántico), Tunja (Boyacá), Manizales (Caldas) and Bogotá.

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