The complaint of approximately eight Venezuelan migrant women about sexual abuse committed between the Cúcuta-Pamplona national highway, in the department of Norte de Santander, keeps the Colombian authorities on alert, according to the magazine Semana de Colombia.
Víctor Bautista, Secretary of Borders in Norte de Santander, rejects the tragic situation that the victims have faced, for which he indicates that the respective complaints have been developed before the authorities of the region in order to clarify the facts and carry out permanent accompaniment. against migrant women.
“The damages are attacks on physical integrity, but we do not know the magnitude of the attack that could have been given to these women and we clearly depend on the competent authority to define what type of aggression it was, if it was sexual or physical damage, but we are waiting for contacts to be established with the eight Venezuelan migrants and a good gathering of information, seeking that these events are not repeated, ”says Bautista.
Jaime Marthey, Ombudsman in Norte de Santander, assures that the psychological and legal attention route was activated with the aim of guaranteeing the rights that these women deserve as individuals, says the Semana report.
“We will be accompanying your complaints and demanding brief results from the Prosecutor’s Office in the investigations. Urging the regional and local authorities to prevent this commission of acts through office secretaries and police authorities together with municipal Personerías, ”says the official.
Likewise, the Personería de Cúcuta informs that the competent investigations have already been opened, and that for now the psychosocial accompaniment is being carried out for the victims who suffered these affectations.
It transpires in the media that some of these women decided to return to Venezuela because of what happened, while others followed her path.
Venezuelans and trans, the most affected by gender violence
According to the report of the Gender Affairs Observatory, gender-based violence significantly affects the department of Norte de Santander, especially women, children and the LGBTI community, through gender-based violence such as: gang rapes, femicides, torture and human trafficking. purposes of sexual exploitation.
For its part, Cúcuta registers the highest number of victims with 68.4%, followed by Tibú (6.3%), Villa del Rosario (6%) and Los Patios (2.9%), indicate the figures for the year past quoted by Week.
It is important to detail that there were 830 victims of gender-based violence, of which 71% are Colombian, 29% of Venezuelan origin and of the total, 24% belong to the LGBTI community.
Feminist activists in the border area of the state of Táchira and those of Norte de Santander have raised alarms due to the recent events that have occurred at illegal border crossings against migrant women, which is why they use campaigns to encourage regular, safe migration and orderly, in order to avoid an increase in the rates of white slavery, sexual exploitation and forced disappearances.
