Voices of Change:
Stories that Inspire and Transform
The Report Defenders: Voices of Life and Resistance is one of the publications of the Somos Defensores Program, a protection space that aims to develop a comprehensive proposal to prevent aggression and protect the lives of individuals at risk due to their work as human rights defenders, when safeguarding the interests of social groups and communities affected by violence in Colombia. The Somos Defensores Program is made up of: the Minga Association, the Colombian Commission of Jurists, and Benposta Nación de Muchach@s Colombia. This report, published in 2020, is divided into three chapters.
The first chapter addresses key interpretative elements regarding the violence faced by human rights defenders, using the Continuum of Violence as an analytical category. This allows for situating the aggressions committed against them within the framework of the deep gender-based discrimination gaps. The second chapter provides an overview of the state response and the configuration of a public policy concerning guarantees for the work of human rights defenders, highlighting both progress and obstacles.
DEFENDERS: VOICES OF LIFE AND RESISTANCE
It is important to highlight that the Integral Program of Guarantees for Women Leaders and Human Rights Defenders, thanks to the persistence and initiative of women's organizations in their dialogue with the government, is now an important reference for the social movement in terms of public policy guarantees for human rights defense work. The third chapter addresses the aggressions committed between 2013 and 2019, during which 1,338 violent incidents were recorded. Threats were the most common form of violence used against defenders, emphasizing that generating fear in women by violent actors is part of a broader pattern of discrimination aimed at silencing their voices and excluding them from leadership roles.
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BENPOSTA COLOMBIA
Benposta is an organization dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of children, adolescents, and young people, creating protective spaces and opportunities for a dignified life, based on active participation and social commitment.
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