Colombia

This decree created a cross-sectional commission called the ‘Mesa Interinstitucional para Erradicar la Violencia contra las Mujeres’. Its purpose is to join efforts for the coordination and cooperation between public entities in order to achieve comprehensive and accessible quality care for women victims of any kind of violence. The commission is comprised by the ministries and directors of public agencies from several sections, including technology, education, culture, justice, among others.

This Decree adopted the National Public Policy of Gender Equity (‘Política Pública Nacional de Equidad de Género’). It aims for the development of specific plans and programs that guarantee the rights of forcibly displaced women, including their right to a violence-free life. The policy also acknowledged the importance of the differential approach from the gender perspective, taking into account the particularities arising out of urban and rural context, Afro-Colombian, indigenous, and peasant women.

This judicial review concerned the issue of women’s military service. The court ruled that limits on the activities that women can perform during voluntary military service were unconstitutional, because they violated women’s constitutional right to be treated equally. The law stated that women in the military could only engage in assistant, administrative, or cultural tasks. The Court indicated that such limitations were based on stereotypes that imply that women are not suitable for other military activities.

This judicial review concerned domestic violence. The court ruled that there ought to be greater criminal sanctions for domestic violence offenses. The law provides for four to eight years of imprisonment in cases of domestic violence, irrespective of the magnitude of the injuries. The plaintiff claimed that the article went against the proportionality principle set forth by the Colombian Constitution.

The case concerned abortion, the right to life, the right to health, and the right to self-determination. The court ruled for the partial decriminalization of abortion and set circumstances under which voluntary termination of pregnancy would be permissible. The Criminal Code previously criminalized voluntary abortion with one to three years of imprisonment.

This case concerned issues of personal freedom and the discrimination against sex workers. The ruling resulted in the protection of two sex workers’ fundamental rights: to be treated equally and not be discriminated because of their profession. The events that triggered such protection concerned a police raid against sex workers in Bogotá under the excuse of regaining a public space.

In this case, the defendant, the mayor of a Colombian town, was convicted of rape and non-consensual abortion. The penalty was 261 months of imprisonment and 20 years of disqualification from exercising political roles in the public sector. The prosecutor argued that the defendant had several sexual encounters with the plaintiff, a minor, against her will and, as a result, she got pregnant. The defendant forced the plaintiff to terminate the pregnancy. The defendant argued before the Supreme Court of Justice that the appellant court omitted at least seven fundamental testimonies.

The case concerned labor rights and protection of sex workers. The plaintiff, a sex worker, sued her former employer for firing her after she became pregnant. Under articles 236 and 239 of the Colombian Labor Code, a pregnant woman is subject to special labor protection, and therefore cannot be fired without cause and without authorities’ permission. The court consisdered whether pregnant sex workers should have the same labor protection as other professions.

This law promoted the creation and establishment of a gender affairs observatory (‘Observatorio de Asuntos de Género’). The purpose of the observatory is to identify and select a system of gender indicators, to analyze gender data, and to monitor public and private plans and programs to suggest improvements on policies and regulations aiming for gender equity in Colombia.

This law enacted rules for the prevention and sanction of several forms of violence and discrimination against women. It established provisions that guarantee all women i) a life free of violence, both in the public and private sectors, ii) the exercise of their rights granted both by the domestic and the international legal systems, iii) access to administrative and judicial procedures for protection and attention, and iv) the adoption of public policies against violence and discrimination.