Prosecutor's Office will investigate 163 cases of sexual abuse in schools in Bogotá

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education provided the Attorney General's Office with information on 163 cases of sexual violence registered in district educational institutions, allegedly committed by teachers attached to the entity.

The entity clarified in a press release that there are 154 active disciplinary proceedings with a cut-off as of March 1; however, the base submitted to the Prosecutor's Office was updated on March 18, which includes complaints received in the third month of the year, thus involving a total of 163 cases.

The judicial body, for its part, will deliver the first results of the investigation within a period of 30 days. Added to this is the appointment of six new prosecutors and the same number of investigators who will be available in the District's courthouses, located in: Ciudad Bolivar, Suba and Barrios Unidos.

This initiative was announced on March 19 by Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, after meeting with Mayor Claudia López. According to the official, the new investigators and prosecutors will give greater attention to this type of inquiry regardless of the locality in which it originates.

“Preventing and speeding up cases of sexual violence in schools is a priority,” said Edna Bonilla, Secretary of Education. The official stressed that the internal control team is being strengthened, the recruitment of 200 additional teaching counselors and the work they have done with various entities, “since preventing this type of violence is the work of the whole society,” she added.

Prevention days in official schools

This Wednesday began a pedagogical day to identify the different types of violence that occur in school, risk factors and the need to promote cultural transformation in homes and educational institutions. “The goal is to advance a cycle of pedagogical days once a month in the city's official schools,” said the Ministry of Education.

To that end, the entity developed the first guide that will serve as support to work on this issue and thus “turn schools into territories free of violence and violations”. Anyone can access these guides at educacionbogota.edu.co.

“This exercise will provide educational communities with tools that allow the identification, denaturalization and prevention of violence, promote the participation of children and young people in the construction of strategies for the prevention of violence in the school environment and recognize institutional support networks in situations of violence”, the Secretariat stated in the document.

In 2021, 61% of reported cases of sexual abuse were victimized by minors

According to the report released by the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in 2021 there were about 43,993 complaints associated with sexual abuse, of which 61% were cases against children and adolescents. Of these, only 13% reported nationally were brought before a judge.

The analysis carried out by the university highlighted that children, young people who are victims of sexual harassment or abuse have delays in their development, anxiety, stigmatization, low self-esteem. Among other drawbacks, three times lower performance was identified in the State tests, more likely to repeat school resources and to drop out of school.

According to the report, when they reach adulthood, these minors will be twice as likely to have economic difficulties, poor job performance or problems getting employment. For this reason, the institution recommended implementing a strategy for sexual and reproductive education.

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