Parties to Colombia conflict raped almost 15,000 women in 2001-09 - study

[Judi Lynn]

Parties to Colombia conflict raped almost 15,000 women in 2001-09 - study
Source: AlertNet
Date: 14 Dec 2010

BOGOTA (AlertNet) – Colombia's armed groups and, to a far lesser extent, its army raped 14,779 women between 2001 and 2009 - or five women a day on average - and forced hundreds more into prostitution, a study has found.

Based on existing data and its own interviews with 2,700 victims of sexual abuse, the report by Intermon Oxfam, a member of international aid group Oxfam, estimates that rebels were responsible for rapes of 12,809 girls and women and the armed forces committed the rest of those crimes during the nine-year period.

"Sexual violence constitutes a common and frequent practice in the context of the armed conflict," Intermon Oxfam said in a statement after the launch of the report earlier this month.

For more than four decades Colombia has been mired in fighting between government troops, leftist rebels, cocaine smugglers and far-right paramilitary militias. The accompanying lawlessness is a key driver of sexual crimes. Armed groups also rape to punish and intimidate enemies and to instill fear among communities.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/VVOS-8C5R9Z?OpenDocument