Security for women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the conflict-affected regions in Colombia

 

Colombia is currently in the process of concluding peace negotiations with the guerrilla group Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). One of the principal expectations generated by the negotiation process is that violence will decline once the final agreement is signed. However, serious reservations and concerns are being raised about whether crimes and violent incidents against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people will actually decrease in the post-conflict era, particularly at the local level.

The local partner for this project is Fundación Ideas para la Paz (Foundation for Ideas for Peace), a local non-governmental organization formed to generate knowledge, propose initiatives, develop practices and policy, and support processes contributing to the construction of stable and durable peace in Colombia. The project will help diagnose the security situation and construct alternative solutions to improve the local security conditions of women and LGBTI people in three regions affected by the violence.

The project will examine public and security policies associated with gender-based violence (GBV) as well as mechanisms for access to justice in related cases. It will work with key stakeholders to improve the local security conditions of women and LGBTI people, with a focus on GBV reduction. It will build and strengthen community, public, and private sector capacities to improve the security of women and LGBTI people affected by GBV, inform and sensitize stakeholders about local security conditions associated with GBV, with an emphasis on sexual violence, and disseminate recommendations for better policy and practice at local, national, and regional levels.