In 61 per cent of complaints related to sexual offences, victims are minors

In 2022, the violence to which minors may be vulnerable in institutional spaces has become evident. Alerts of sexual harassment and abuse against children in schools all over the country were triggered, as so far this year multiple complaints have been triggered, especially in Bogotá due to this problem. In addition, since the pandemic began, reports of domestic abuse and sexual crimes at home have also increased.

Recall that one of the first public complaints of sexual harassment and violence in schools was against the Marymount of Bogotá, when students announced that a teacher at the institution had used his position to harass minors for more than 10 years and that the institution's authorities had ignored the complaints.

Another complaint that broke out was that of public schools in Venice, where protests and sittings were held in Nuevo Muzú and El Ensueño because of the indignation of parents and students over the denunciation of two students who were victims of sexual abuse by a substitute teacher, much like what happened in school CEFA (Centro Formativo de Antioquia) in Medellín, where the students demonstrated on March 8 against sexual harassment by a teacher of the school, which resulted in confrontation between minors and Esmad agents.

Due to the critical panorama faced by minors in Colombia, the Laboratory for the Economics of Education (LEE) of the Javeriana University published an investigation called “Sexual crimes against minors in Colombia: sex education as the main tool”, where it is evident that not only have the reports related to sexual offenses in the country, but the most affected in this type of crime are minors.

According to El Tiempo, which had access to full information, LEE indicated that in 2021, approximately 43,993 complaints associated with sexual crimes were filed in Colombia, in which 85.4% of the cases the victim is a woman. In addition, in addition to 100 per cent of complaints, 27,000 complaints, or 61 per cent, relate to cases against children and adolescents. This implies that, on average, a child abuse is reported every 20 minutes.

“One of the most worrying aspects is that 85 per cent of complaints are from women. The rights of girls and women are violated and in countries like Colombia, women are vulnerable and discriminated against, in education, in the labor market, there is a lot of machismo and society has normalized this, we accept it because it has always been that way,” Luz Karime Abadía, co-director of LEE to the Colombian media outlet, added that the data and the conclusions of the document reveal the situation, that is, they go hand in hand with the multiple complaints that have been made within educational institutions.

On the other hand, the investigation by Universidad Javeriana also shows that the increase in these crimes has occurred since 2010, according to data collection, the increase has been as follows: in 2010 the Prosecutor's Office received 10,911 complaints of sexual offences against children and adolescents, by 2015 cases increased to 18,885, and in 2018 they tripled compared to 2010:30,121 complaints and in 2019 the highest number of complaints: 35,738.

The study linked this in part to the legal inefficiency that exists in dealing with the facts: “This is the result of a judicial system that does not function properly, which does not provide guarantees to victims; justice is inefficient in Colombia, it generates revictimization, grief and causes crime to continue to occur.”

In addition to the above, it was concluded that victims of these abuses may have serious future effects if the event is treated as revictimization, psychiatric illnesses, relationship problems, among other things.

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