Life Plans of Women Victims of Sexual Violence in the Internal Armed Conflict

The research presented by the author is based on the finding that sexual violence during the internal armed conflict was not an isolated event, but rather reveals an exercise of "gendered" violence — that is, its victims were mostly poor women from remote areas of the country, on the coast, in the highlands, and in the jungle — and it was widespread, having a massive character, as it was used as a strategy of war and domination primarily by those who played the role of defenders of the homeland. The after-effects of this type of violence against women are analyzed through the testimonies of four women who lived and suffered, from an early age, repeated situations of sexual rape as well as other types of violence arising from it, including forced maternity, forced migration, social stigmatization, and the climate of impunity surrounding these events. (Excerpt from the foreword).