Violence against women used as a weapon of war in Colombia.

In Quibdó, Colombia, local criminal gangs have targeted women for their ties to rival groups, resorting to gender-based violence as a strategy for territorial control.

In early September, the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) distributed a list containing the names and photos of at least 27 women via WhatsApp chats. All the women were in relationships with members of other criminal groups active in Quibdo, the capital of the Colombian department of Chocó on the Pacific coast. The strategy was dubbed “Plan Feminicidio” by the group.

“You have 24 hours to leave town because you are now on a hit list,” the message said.

SEE ALSO:Tibú’s informants: how the Colombian state unleashed a wave of femicides

August in Quibdó was marked by an increase in femicides. Early in the month a minor was murdered, and a few weeks later, assassins murdered Luz Berilia Chalá, a social leader and member of the Network of Mothers and Caregivers of Murdered Youth in Quibdó (la Red de Madres y Cuidadoras de Jóvenes Asesinados en Quibdó) .

Although the AGC denied sending the threats in a statement published on September 29, the increase in femicides and fear caused several women to leave the city. On September 5, the NGO Road to Peace for Women (Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres) warned that they had received 35 different threats against women in Quibdó since the beginning of September.

According to an alert from the Office of the Ombudsman, the spike in femicides came as the AGC in Quibdó is gaining strength. The situation has deteriorated since the breaking of a truce between local gangs – the Mexicanos, reportedly linked to the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN), Lokos Yam, the Zetas and the RPS. The groups attempted to negotiate with the Colombian government as part of the Total Peace policy, under which President Gustavo Petro’s government has sought demobilization deals with many of Colombia’s criminal groups.

“Everyone lives in this situation, but it is much more violent towards women,” Paola Marín, researcher for the Territorial Peace and Human Rights line at the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, told InSight Crime. “(By calling it Plan Feminicidio) it shows how systematic it is, that it is organized, that it is not a coincidence.”

InSight crime analysis

“Plan Feminicidio” once again shows how criminal groups use violence against women as a weapon of war in Latin America, especially when fighting over territory and control of criminal profits.

Throughout Colombia’s history of armed conflict and crime, these strategies have been a way to hurt the enemy and humiliate communities.

The Colombian Observatory of Femicides (el Observatorio Colombiano de Feminicidios) emphasizes that while the dynamics are not new, they are worrying. “We have seen spikes (in femicides), especially in the context of the various territorial disputes between armed men who exert various forms of violence against women to gain territorial power… We see how this violence is increasing in certain places such as Cauca, Santander, Norte de Santander, Antioquia,” an Observatory analyst told InSight Crime.

SEE ALSO:How the conflict in Colombia has intensified violence against women and the LGBTQI+ community

Several groups fighting for control of Quibdó have resorted to gender-based violence. “The threats were initially intended to blame the Clan del Golfo (as the AGC is known), but the truth is that all criminal organizations and gangs there use the same strategies,” Marín added.

The practices continue in other parts of the country. In 2022, guerrilla groups in Tibú, Norte de Santander, used similar threats to expel, kill and disappear dozens of women due to their alleged ties to security forces in the area. Departments such as Antioquia, Valle del Cauca and Cauca also show alarming femicide rates for 2024, according to data from the Colombian Femicide Observatory.

Killing women also succeeds in breaking community ties and instilling fear, the Observatory analyst told InSight Crime. Organized crime groups seek to target women who serve as pillars of the social fabric – as mothers, caregivers or leaders – to sow fear and crush community initiatives to entrench their social control. Other countries in the region have experienced similar waves of violence against women.

In Haiti, disputes between the gang confederations G9 and Familia and G-PEP accused both sides of interrogating and sexually assaulting women with alleged familial or emotional ties to their rivals with impunity. In Venezuela, criminal gangs are killing women linked to rival gangs or security forces to influence their rivals or send a message of power, according to figures collected by civil society organizations. Moreover, they have murdered women who exercise leadership within their communities to spread fear and consolidate their social control.

Main image: A peaceful march in the city of Quibdó to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Credit: SweFOR Colombia