BOGOTA — For the thousands of Colombian women who
suffered gender violence and sexual assault during the country’s armed
conflict, this past weekend’s rejection of the peace process has left them and
millions of others reeling.
"We are disappointed and the worst is that we do
not know how long it will take to fix this," said Anyi Cardenas, a member
of the Colombian Network of Gender-Sensitive Journalists.
Juana Teresa Callejas, a victims project researcher for
"Yo sobrevivi," said the result showed "how polarized Colombian
society is." She was surprised the “no” vote won in cities including
Santander and her hometown of Medellin, while rural regions most affected by
the armed conflict voted “yes.”
"I'm very sad,” she said. But she pointed out she
wouldn’t have wanted the peace accord to pass by only a slim margin because it
needs buy-in from the community. “If the latter had won with such strong
opposition, implementing the peace accord would have been extremely difficult,"
Callejas said.
Sunday's vote on the peace deal with the FARC guerrilla
failed by the slimmest of margins, with 49% voting for it and 50.2% voting
against it.
Leading up to the vote, negotiators have been working
for years on structuring a peace deal that puts an end to one of the world’s
longest running civil wars in which more than 200,000 people have lost their
lives, and 5 million have been internally displaced.
The prominent role of women in the Colombian peace talks
has been hailed around the world.
The final peace accord between the Colombian government
and the FARC-EP was the first worldwide to include a gender perspective in each
of its six main points, such as equal access to land distribution, warranties
of protection and non-repetition of violence and political participation of
women in decision-making and conflict resolution stages, among other issues.
Women soldiers make up more than a third of the
guerrillas, and integrating them back into society was also one of the
challenges of the reconciliation process.
"Never before in Colombia has there been such a
deep discussion over gender in public policy as represented in this agreement.
Though not perfect, it is a step forward," said gender and politics
professor Maria Catalina Monroy.
However, many men and women who voted against the peace
process said they did so because it didn’t take killings and human rights
violations, such as assaults against women, seriously enough. Through the plan,
the majority of those who killed, kidnapped, displaced, raped and assaulted
women could avoid major prison time by admitting their crimes in exchange for
amnesty.
Graphic arts student Alejandra Lamprea blamed the
"no" result in the biggest cities on misinformation, as well as
people who chose not to vote — turnout was about 40%.
Lamprea, 22, said she could barely understand why most
Colombians did not care or believe in the peace process.
"I resent deeply the absenteeism because this was
an opportunity and a right that was given to us to make history. We cannot
ignore what happens to us," she said.
According to Lamprea, "building peace goes beyond
an agreement signed by two parties. It was meant to be a complete
reconstruction of a nation."
In that regard, Dora Delgado, 60, said in an interview
that she supported the "no" vote because "a just peace"
should include greater punishment for FARC members and more help for victims.
"None of us thought the 'no' vote was going to win,
but we celebrate the outcome. It is right because now we can renegotiate and
approve a just and lasting peace," Delgado said.
According to the latest statistics, 83% of all sexual
assault victims during the armed conflict were women. In 2013, more than 3,105
accounts were reported but the trauma and fear of stigma or retaliation prevent
some victims from reporting their crimes.
In 2016, there were officially 8 million victims of the
Colombian armed conflict.
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