MADRE Statements

Ending Gender-Based Violence in Colombia

Posted on: Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Keywords: Colombia, Peace Building, Human Rights Advocacy, Latin America and the Caribbean

LIMPAL, MADRE's sister organization in Colombia, recently published there their May 2010 bulletin. You can read the original here. Summaries are below.

International League

15 years after the 4th World Conference on Women met in Beijing, civil society organizations are calling for a re-politicization of the Beijing Action Platform. As result of the world conference, the Beijing Action Platform is “an action program to enhance role of women worldwide, eliminating obstacles to their participation in all spheres of public and private lives.” The document supports the universal, inalienable rights of women.

Yet since the inception of the document, governments have compromised their obligations. After a review in New York, civil society organizations, including LIMPAL, note that the “Beijing Action Platform, 15 years after its adoption, appears to be considered by governments only as a technical tool. Its content has been depoliticized and diluted, losing its critical perspective and transformative purpose in terms of power relations and inequalities.”

Project Update

MADRE’s sister organization in Colombia, LIMPAL, continues its work against gender based violence. In March and April, LIMPAL involved the communities of Libano, San José de los Campanos and Fredonia in the creation of murals and pots that give a visual representation of gender based violence. These art projects raised awareness and created a dialogue about violence against women and the community’s role in ending it.

Additionally, LIMPAL is continuing their project “Violence against women hits all men and women” in Cartagena. Workshops were offered throughout March and April to distribute information concerning legal help in cases of gender based violence.

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