Situation of Wiwa women who live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia 

A Roundtable was held on Tuesday 19th November: 

• The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, known as the “heart of the world”, has suffered a loss of 92% of its snow-capped peaks affecting 385 glacial lakes, 36 watersheds and 9 important rivers that supply drinking water to more than one million people. This situation could worsen due to the granting of 151 mining licenses, covering 112 hectares, and a further 95 applications that are being processed, covering 78,000 hectares. In other words, 10% of the ancestral territory is affected. 

• Structural violence is disproportionately affecting Wiwa women and girls. The dynamics of violence, exclusion and land dispossession not only destroy the social fabric, increase the risks of forced displacement and the disintegration of community life. Women have been victims of physical and psychological violence. 

• In 2024, more than 600 Wiwa Peoples were forced to displace, 6,000 confined by illegal armed actors in their territory, 17 traditional dwellings were burned down in a territorial dispute between the illegal groups ‘Clan del Golfo’ and the Conquistadores de la Sierra Nevada for control of territory, illegal gold mining and drug trafficking routes. Despite the presence of an army base in part of the territory illegal armed groups appear to move about freely. 

• The conflict has rapidly increased in Wiwa territory in the last 12 months and previous practices of killing and dismembering of people has returned. Illegal armed groups force children to distribute the body part in various villages during the night to terrorise the population into submission. 

• Wiwa women and girls are experiencing multiple forms of violence including conflict related sexual violence. The violence is not only related to the conflict it is also internal within the community as well as external. There is sexual violence from an early age, physical abuse, abandonment and forced displacement. These abuses have left deep physical and emotional scars, and many women and girls have been forced to live in silence, without access to adequate cultural and health care. Some have had to leave the territory in search of a new life, which threatens the continuity of their culture. 

• 2020 to Nov 2024 about 73 cases of sexual violence, femicides and gender-based violence in the Wiwa Community have been identified and filed in the prosecutor’s office and 12 cases of forced recruitment of girls and sexual violence by legal and illegal armed actors.  

• A decline of the sagas, women with a spiritual and political knowledge. The Wiwa Indigenous Peoples are the only ones in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta that have an active female spiritual figure, although currently limited by the lack of spaces for participation. Examples of this are the absence of key figures such as Saga Santa, Saga Bernabela, Saga María de la Cruz and others, who played a protective role towards girls and defended respect for women. It is urgent to revitalize this role through their training and strengthening, accompanying these processes with training and prevention of the various forms of violence faced by Wiwa women and girls. 

• Wiwa women defend the environment and spirituality, taking care of sacred elements such as the earth, the moon and water. The work of sagas is essential for life and balance, and they seek to preserve and transmit this legacy to the following generations, to ensure the survival of the culture and rights of the Wiwa people. 

• The threats against and assassination of indigenous leaders have increased significantly. The attacks include threats against Wiwa women leaders.  

These patterns of human rights violations and systematic attacks in the Sierra Nevada demonstrate the urgent need for international intervention. 

The Wiwa Women’s Commissioner and CINEP (Colombian NGO) acknowledged the importance of the support that they receive from the UK Embassy. They appreciate the fact that the UK Embassy visited the Sierra Nevada with a diplomatic mission to see first hand the situation on the ground and the fact that they have given some funding for the Wiwa self-protection measures. 

Recommendations  

• That the UK in its Women Peace and Security National Action Plan 1325 Place a special focus on Indigenous Women and their organisational structures and provide resources to allow them to strengthen their organisational structures.
• That the UK provide resources to the Women’s Commission in the Wiwa Community to further develop, prevention, attention, justice, follow-up and protection routes for the dignification of Wiwa women and girl victims of sexual and gender-based violence that occurs both inside and outside of conflict.
• That the UK provides resources to the Wiwa Women’s Commission to support the establishment of a refuge for Wiwa women and girls in their territory.
• That the UK provide resources to strengthen the Women’s Commission in indigenous territory and thereby ensure the presence of women in decision-making spaces.