Description
Sexual violence within illegal armed groups is an open secret in Colombia. Cases of rape, forced abortion, and forced contraception have been reported within the ranks of these groups (Colombian Truth Commission, 2022). However, the recognition of the victim status to fighters is politically and socially contested (McEvoy et al,2022). Colombia’s transitional justice treats victims and perpetrators as distinct binary categories (Zulver, 2022). This denies victim status to female fighters who suffer sexual violence. Female fighters are considered “undeserving victims” because of their participation in violence, and their soldiering is often associated with flaws in their femininity (Weber,2021; Sjoberg,2007). As such, their victimisation is seen as a consequence they must bear for their agency in violence and for not submitting to gender norms (Hearty,2018). By engaging in the “false dichotomy” of agency-victimhood, the Colombian legal system has decontextualised their experiences of sexual violence. In turn, it strips them of their victim status and rights to truth, justice and reparation like any other citizen. Building on the literature of victim and gender hierarchies, this paper examines traditional representations of fighters as enemies, and how the recognition of victim status challenges this representation in the case of sexual violence within armed groups in Colombia.
