Killing of Karina García reflects targeting of female
contenders, amid mounting security concerns.
The body of mayoral candidate Karina García was found shot
and incinerated in her car in the Cauca department of southern Colombia, on 1
September.
For weeks, García had reported receiving threats and asked
the government for increased protection during campaigning for the local and
departmental elections at the end of the month.
Since the political race officially began, seven candidates
have been murdered around the country.
These elections will be the first to take place since the
historic signing of a peace accord between the Farc rebels and the Colombian
government in 2016, ending more than 50 years of war.
The assassinations, attacks and threats against candidates
take place amid concerns about increasing violence in Colombia. Some analysts
attribute the killings to armed groups looking to gain territorial authority
and the control of the illegal drugs trade. Those candidates who support the implementation
of the peace process, including the eradication or substitution of coca crops,
risk becoming targets.
Amid the rising tide of violence, national women’s
organisations are voicing concerns that attacks on female political candidates
are shaped by gender dynamics.
Carolina Mosquera, researcher at feminist organisation Sisma
Mujer, said women are being targeted both for running as candidates, and for
disturbing the patriarchal order. “Male candidates are being attacked, but not
for gendered reasons – not because they are men.”
Irina Cuesta, a researcher at thinktank Fundación Ideas para
la Paz, told the Guardian: “Our research has found that when women leaders are
attacked, it’s through threats to their family members, sexual violence, and
generalised warnings against the work they do. The contents of the threats are
openly sexist and question [women’s] political processes more generally.”
She describes a wave of femicides that took place in Puerto
Asís, Putumayo, earlier this year. Among victims were women who planned to
register as candidates in the coming elections.
“There is a political message behind these aggressions
against women leaders and candidates, particularly in the territories where
stereotypes and tolerance to gender-based violence are useful tools for illegal
armed actors.”
María Emilsen Angulo is running to be the mayor of Tumaco, a
port town on Colombia’s Pacific coast notorious for violence, drug-smuggling
and the presence of armed groups.
In May, Angulo was approached by a group of armed men who
told her to end her political campaign.
“I was worried, because I know how things work around here,
but I continued cautiously. The second time they came to me, it was much more
vulgar, crueller,” she says, in her campaign office in the centre of Tumaco.
“They threatened me and told me that they know where my
daughter is, where my husband is, that they know where we travel and how we
move, and if something happened, it would be my fault.”
She and her team decided to pull out of the running, but
later surprised the community by officially registering again.
“Women need to keep advancing to get access to the spaces
that we still can’t reach. There should be an equality when it comes to
governing this country, there should be more women counsellors,
representatives, governors, mayors.”
She has hired private security, but remains fearful.
“When you launch a political campaign, you put your life at
risk, your family at risk,” she says.
“I feel that there are no guarantees for my safety. I want
to do my job, but there are stronger interests out there.”
Ten years ago, Laura Montoya nearly died after being
attacked by a paramilitary group while in the office of her radio station. A
journalist and activist for many years, she is now running for a seat in the
departmental assembly of Putumayo, a southern province bordering Ecuador and
Peru.
In 2018, Montoya received a death threat via an anonymous
phone call, and earlier this year her name appeared on a menacing pamphlet
signed by a paramilitary group. Despite ongoing fears for her safety, she
decided to launch a political campaign.
“Women are gaining ground, but we still have further to go,
and this has to begin from above, with policies that can represent real
changes,” she says.
“There is a gendered issue here. There is a deep-rooted
machismo. I work alongside men who are involved in the same activism and they
haven’t received the threats that I have.”
Her department, Putumayo, continues to be one of the top
coca-growing parts of the country, and armed groups are once again trying to
gain control of the illicit trade.
When it comes to women running for office in this context,
Montoya is clear: “Women have become more empowered, but [participation] is
still lacking because of the fear, the lack of guarantees for their security.”
According to 2011 law, each party’s electoral list must
include 30% women. Despite this, only 12% of all mayors in the country are
women.
Ana Güezmes García, the Representative for UN Women in
Colombia, said “one of the biggest challenges is women’s participation at the
local level”.
“To consolidate the peace process, we need to invest in
women … and create a culture of security for them,” she added.
“Gendered violence is based in hatred. The level of murders
and extreme violence we have seen in Colombia is very worrying and requires a
strengthened response from all of the institutions. It’s the community leaders
who face the biggest risks of threats and violence, which is why it’s extremely
important that what we saw happen in Cauca mobilises everyone to respond,
investigate and sanction what happened.”
During her campaign, Karina García’s political slogan was:
“One woman, one hope”.
“She wanted to bring a new sort of leadership to Suárez [her
municipality],” says Mosquera, “but when so few women are willing to risk
entering electoral politics and then they see events like this, the message
becomes extremely clear: don’t participate or this could happen to you too.”
