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SISMA MUJER (Colombia)

HISTORY: Sisma Mujer is a Colombian feminist non-governmental organization founded on August 23, 1998, by women from various disciplines. It was established with the mission of building a world free of violence against women and girls, promoting their freedom, equality, and human rights. The organization focuses on providing free legal and psychosocial support to women who are victims of sexual and domestic violence, as well as to the families of femicide victims, especially those from rural and low-resource areas.

In the context of peace building, Sisma Mujer has been actively involved in the peace dialogues between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army) and made significant contributions to the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement by advocating for the inclusion of a gender perspective throughout the peace process. They were part of the Gender Subcommission, which was established to ensure that the peace accords addressed the specific needs, rights, and experiences of women, who were disproportionately affected by the conflict. This led to the incorporation of over 100 gender-related provisions in the final agreement, making it one of the most progressive peace accords in terms of gender inclusivity worldwide.

Key contributions by Sisma Mujer included

• ensuring the recognition of sexual violence as a grave violation of human rights,
• advocating for women’s land rights,
• promoting the participation of women in political processes,
• and securing reparations and justice for female victims of the conflict.

Their efforts ensured that women’s experiences and perspectives were integrated into discussions about rural reform, political participation, reintegration of ex-combatants, and the transitional justice system, which deals with truth, justice, reparation, and non-repetition for victims.

CHALLENGES: Despite their efforts, Sisma Mujer faces significant challenges, particularly in the current political climate, which has seen a shift towards right-wing governance that threatens the gains made in the peace process. Issues such as lack of funding, insufficient government training on gender issues, and increased violence against women activists complicate their work.

In response, the women’s movement established gender sensitive models for violence prevention as a key part of the agenda for the women’s movement. In the words of Claudía Mejía (Director Sisma Mujer 1998 – 2019): „[…] the most substantial component of this program is prevention. But, how are these threats prevented? The answer lies in strengthening the leadership of women. If you enhance the participation of women in decision-making scenarios in social and community processes, attacks on [women] human rights defenders diminish for a simple reason: the stronger and more visible women are, the more difficult it will be to attack them”.

Although the implementation of the Peace Agreement continues with slow progress, the women’s movement does not lose hope. The Agreement laid out a new route for the country, with a focus on improving the lives of women. Going forward, the priority of the women’s movement in Colombia is to defend the agreement. Only by maintaining the pact, peace can be achieved in Colombia, and only with the end of the conflict will women have the minimum conditions to live a life free of violence.

Sources:

Sisma Mujer Website: https://www.sismamujer.org

Sigrid Rausing Trust: https://www.sigrid-rausing-trust.org/grantee/sisma-mujer/

Heinrich Böll Stiftung: https://eu.boell.org/en/2019/02/14/feminist-peace-colombia

Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation (SweFOR) https://swefor.org/colombia/human-rights-defenders-accompanied-in-colombia/corporacion-sisma-mujer/

Learn more about the organization: 25 años Corporación Sisma Mujer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko9XddY6hGE