Learning to live free of violence
Two mothers tell how training from a CAFOD partner helped their community stand up to threats and abuse from armed groups involved in Colombia's long-running conflict
“They came once to forcibly recruit the children from the community to be soldiers. I don’t know from which side, but the women were able to defend them and they didn’t manage to kidnap a single one.”
Marlene Briñez*, a middle-aged mother of two living in southern Colombia, faces unthinkable terrors as she battles to try and keep her children safe in such a conflict-riddled country.
It made me very angry that they destroyed the work I had put so much effort into
She is just one of many women caught up in the middle of Colombia's ongoing civil war where they are constantly vulnerable to violence from the guerrillas and paramilitaries.
Daily life in the midst of conflict
A myriad of armed actors threaten and abuse women in her local area, and it is understandable why Marlene admits to being scared.
“We are isolated here in the countryside so faraway from everything and with no one to protect us.
"The government does not have control over the area and perpetrators of abuses are hardly ever imprisoned.”
CAFOD’s partner (which cannot be named for security reasons) provides vital support to these women by helping them organise into community groups.
The women are taught how to record abuses, collectively defend their human rights, and push for a peaceful end to the conflict.
This ability to organise is crucial in a context where armed groups use harassment, sexual abuse, and other forms of violence as a strategy of war to control the terrified population.
CAFOD’s partner also help the women set up organic vegetable gardens and give them pigs and chickens which gives them a source of income and improves their diet.
Mother-of-four Maria Tique*, 48, tells how her own attempts to grow organic food was almost wrecked by those involved in the fighting.
She says: "An armed group of men stopped me one day when they saw that I had a lot of composting bins, which I was using to extend my garden.
"They asked me if I was using them to hide weapons, but I explained to them that it was a composting bin.
"So they wrecked two of the bins. I stood up to them and they haven’t wrecked them again. But it made me very angry that they destroyed the work I had put so much effort into.”
The achievements of Marlene and Maria show how their confidence to resist the pressure from armed groups has increased, thanks to the support from CAFOD's partner.
This work has also helped persuade the local council to focus on improving the lives of women, providing refuge houses and projects to educate them about sexual health and rights, and domestic violence.
Maria says: "Once, we held a meeting, a large public assembly, and five men turned up saying they wanted to speak to Alberto* (co-ordinator of the women’s project). We told them it was not possible.
“We didn’t let them get close to Alberto and it helped that there were a lot of people present. We were a little nervous but we only told Alberto what had happened at the end of the meeting.”
As Marlene says: “Since we have been in the women’s group they respect us more.”
Thanks to the bravery of women such as Maria and Marlene, the women of Colombia are learning that, to live their lives free of violence, it is crucial they act together to defend their rights and their dignity.
*names have been changed for security reasons
