Sexual violence in the Colombian armed conflict. Access to justice for women victims of sexual violence.

: Access to justice for women victims of sexual violence.

Knudsen, Julia Marie

4. term

Development and International Relations, Master

2016

2016-07-29

91

Feministisk forskning har vist, at nutidens interne væbnede konflikter rammer kvinder og piger særligt hårdt: de udgør en stor del af de civile ofre og er ofte mål for seksuel vold. Selvom offentlighedens opmærksomhed steg efter International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1993) og for Rwanda (1994), har nationale og internationale indsatser ikke skabt tilstrækkelige forbedringer for kvinder under og efter konflikter. Et hovedproblem er straffrihed—når gerningspersoner ikke bliver undersøgt, retsforfulgt eller straffet—og den deraf følgende manglende adgang til retfærdighed for overlevere. Med dette som baggrund undersøger specialet Colombia, som i mere end fem årtier har levet med en væbnet konflikt mellem flere væbnede grupper. Konflikten har ført til alvorlige menneskerettighedskrænkelser og brud på international humanitær ret (krigens love), herunder udbredt seksuel vold mod kvinder. Ifølge organisationen Casa de la Mujer var 489.687 kvinder ofre for seksuel vold i perioden 2001–2009. I 2008 udstedte Colombias Forfatningsdomstol kendelsen Auto 092 for at bekæmpe straffrihed og forbedre kvinders adgang til retfærdighed. Næsten otte år senere konkluderede den Arbejdsgruppe, der overvåger efterlevelsen, at selv blandt de 183 sager i kendelsens fortrolige bilag overstiger straffriheden 97%. Specialet spørger, hvorfor straffriheden fortsætter trods Auto 092. Gennem kvalitativ indholdsanalyse af Arbejdsgruppens overvågningsrapporter søger specialet at identificere de mekanismer, der opretholder straffrihed. Analysen anvender en feministisk kønsvinkel, som fokuserer på, hvordan patriarkalske strukturer—sociale og institutionelle ordninger, der privilegerer mænd—skaber strukturel vold, dvs. skader indlejret i love, institutioner og hverdagspraksisser, som fastholder kvinder i en udsat position.

Feminist research shows that today’s internal armed conflicts harm women and girls in particular: they make up a large share of civilian casualties and are often targeted with sexual violence. Although public attention increased after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1993) and for Rwanda (1994), national and international responses have not produced sufficient improvements for women during and after conflict. A central concern is impunity—when perpetrators are not effectively investigated, prosecuted, or punished—and the resulting lack of access to justice for survivors. Against this backdrop, the thesis examines Colombia, which has endured more than five decades of armed conflict involving multiple armed groups. This conflict has led to serious human rights violations and breaches of International Humanitarian Law (the laws of war), including widespread sexual violence against women. According to the organization Casa de la Mujer, 489,687 women were victims of sexual violence between 2001 and 2009. In 2008, Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued Order Auto 092 to address impunity and improve women’s access to justice. Nearly eight years later, the Working Group monitoring compliance concluded that, even among the 183 cases listed in the order’s confidential annexes, impunity exceeds 97%. The research asks why impunity has persisted despite Auto 092. Using qualitative content analysis of the Monitoring Reports produced by the Working Group, the thesis seeks to identify the mechanisms that sustain impunity. The analysis applies a feminist gender perspective, focusing on how patriarchal structures—social and institutional arrangements that privilege men—produce structural violence, meaning harms built into laws, institutions, and everyday practices that keep women in a disadvantaged position.

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Knudsen, Julia Marie:

• Sexual violence in the Colombian armed conflict.: Access to justice for women victims of sexual violence. (2016)