Methodology

This report is based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch researchers in Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, and Medellín between December 2011 and October 2012. We chose these locations because they are areas that receive a large number of displaced persons and, as department capital cities, they should provide a picture of victims’ best access to good quality services after gender-based violence.[1]

Human Rights Watch researchers carried out interviews with 80 displaced women and girls, all of whom were survivors—or family members of survivors—of gender-based violence. Of these, 67 sought services for sexual or intra-familial violence. Human Rights Watch also interviewed the lawyers of four additional displaced women and girls who had been victims of sexual violence and sought to legally terminate pregnancies resulting from the violence. In addition, Human Rights Watch conducted 65 interviews with rights advocates, service providers, and other civil society representatives who have worked extensively with victims. Human Rights Watch also met with 46 local and national authorities, including local and national officials from the attorney general’s office, the national police, the National Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, the inspector general’s office, the national ombudsman’s office, municipal officers, local “justice houses,” the Department for Social Prosperity, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), the Agency for Family Services, and the presidential advisor for equity of women. In Bogotá Human Rights Watch met with diplomats, experts on Colombian security issues, and United Nations (UN) officials. Nearly all interviews were conducted in Spanish (the sole exceptions are interviews with diplomats or foreign staff at international organizations). Human Rights Watch received and reviewed documents, reports, policies, and case files from multiple sources.

Interviewees were identified with the assistance of civil society groups, government officials, and other victims. Most interviews with victims were conducted individually in private settings, except in a few instances where interviewees preferred to speak in small groups.

Several interviewees expressed fear of reprisals and for that reason requested to speak anonymously. Details about individuals have been withheld if information could place a person at risk, but are on file with Human Rights Watch. All victims have been provided pseudonyms.

In most instances, interviews were conducted in person. In a small number of cases, follow-up interviews were conducted telephonically.

All victims interviewed provided oral informed consent to participate. Individuals were assured that they could end the interview at any time or decline to answer any questions, without any negative consequences. All participants were informed of the purpose of the interview, its voluntary nature, and the ways information would be collected and used. Care was taken with victims to minimize the risk that recounting their experiences could further traumatize them.

No interviewee received compensation for providing information. Some interviewees received reimbursement for transportation expenses they incurred while traveling to the interviews. Where appropriate, Human Rights Watch provided contact information for organizations offering legal, counseling, health, or social services.

In this report, the word “child” refers to anyone under the age of 18, with “girl” referring to a child.

Gender-based violence is used throughout this report to mean violence targeted at or disproportionately affecting an individual or group on the basis of their gender, including sexual and intra-familial violence. This can include a wide array of violence that results in physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including sexual violence and intra-familial violence.[2] The term sexual violence as used in this report encompasses violence that falls within the definitions of sexual crimes under Colombia’s criminal code—rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse of a person 14 years of age or less.[3] Intra-familial violence is used according to its definition in Colombia’s criminal code—physical or psychological maltreatment of any member of the nuclear family or of a person under the care of members of the household or residence.[4]

The experiences documented in this report are drawn both from victims themselves and from government or NGO representatives with direct experience working with displaced women and girls who have suffered sexual or intra-familial violence. The findings are not a statistical representation of the entire displaced population, but indicate what kinds of obstacles displaced women and girls must overcome in seeking services and accountability after acts of sexual or intra-familial violence. A limitation in the research was the difficulty of identifying women and girls who had not only experienced gender-based violence, but had also sought services from government agencies, as many victims of gender-based violence do not seek such services.

As described in this report, some victims of violence in Colombia fear retaliation if they disclose the abuse they have suffered, so it is possible that some women and girls interviewed by Human Rights Watch recounted only parts of their full experience. For this reason, Human Rights Watch relied on multiple types of sources to establish the broadest possible view of the gaps in implementation of the government’s normative framework on gender-based violence. The report discusses similar trends found in the government response to gender-based violence against displaced women and girls in the four cities of Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena and Medellín.