In October 2023, the focus of the United Nations Security Council in New York was on “Women, Peace and Security.” Commemorating the October 2000 passage of the Security Council’s landmark Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), this occasion was a stock-taking moment for member states, the U.N. Secretary-General, and civil society as they debated how the international community could most effectively uphold its commitment to women’s participation, protection, and prevention, relief and recovery efforts in peace and security. 

It was also an opportunity to reinforce the call for inclusion of all women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and queer people of all genders in peace and security efforts. In the midst of a devastating year for women and LGBTIQ+ people in conflict settings, a ray of hope came from Colombia, where a transitional justice tribunal unveiled an indictment in July that charged 15 former rebels with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against LGBTQ people during Colombia’s decades-long internal armed conflict, thus recognizing conflict-driven violence against LGBTQ people as gender persecution. 

This blog pos chronicles a historic roundtable at the International Criminal Court in May 2023 that brought together 20 feminist and LGBTIQ human rights activists with ICC prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan and other senior members of his office, in pursuit of new avenues to justice. Outright International and its partner organizations from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Colombia, and Bangladesh were among those who attended the convening.

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This article explores the plight of rural Afro-Colombian women who are battling multiple forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on race and gender, as they fight for their land rights against land occupations and state development plans. Nevertheless, Afro-Colombian women are at the vanguard of land rights advocacy in Colombia. This article documents their struggle for vindication.

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This essay discusses the failure of the Colombian government to fully implement the 2016 peace accord’s protections against gender violence and to rectify disparities in the availability, accessibility, and quality of women’s health services throughout Colombia.

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This essay highlights the ongoing issue of gender violence in Colombia – particularly affecting Afro-descendant and Indigenous women and their communities – despite the inclusion of racial and gender justice provisions in the 2016 peace accord with the FARC.

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This essay discusses the demobilization of the FARC in Colombia and how it led to a power struggle among various forces, leaving Afro-Colombian areas vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) from multiple actors.

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This essay discusses Colombia’s high rate of assassinations of human rights defenders, with women defending Afro-descendant and Indigenous territories particularly at risk.

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This article discusses how conservative politicians and evangelical religious leaders in Colombia used the concept of “gender ideology” to strip the 2016 Peace Accord of its provisions protecting the rights of women, Afro-Colombians, Indigenous Peoples, LGBTIQ, and non-binary and gender non-conforming persons.  It also discusses how the harbinger of conservative opposition to human rights viewed justice for these groups as a threat to their grip on power and argues for the necessity of leadership from Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities in the implementation process.

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This essay discusses how a group of Afro-Colombian women’s rights activists and New York law professors came together to raise awareness of Afro-Colombian voices in the Colombian peace process.

Just Security Online Forum on Gender Persecution Policy Series

This post discusses how the ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s Policy on the Crime of Gender Persecution interacts with domestic justice processes by examining the example of the transitional justice process in Colombia.