Criminal justice policy through the use of indicators: the case of sexual violence in the armed conflict in Colombia
| Author | Marcela Abadía |
| Position | Criminal trial lawyer, Master in Theory of Law and PhD in Law at the University of the Andes |
| Pages | 17-52 |
Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 17-52, julio - diciembre de 2014
CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY THROUGH
THE USE OF INDICATORS: THE CASE
OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE ARMED
CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA*
POLÍTICA CRIMINAL POR MEDIO
DEL USO DE INDICADORES: EL CASO
DE LA VIOLENCIA SEXUAL EN EL
CONFLICTO ARMADO COLOMBIANO
MARCELA ABADÍA**
Reception date: May 30th, 2014
Acceptance date: June 30th, 2014
Available Online: September 30th, 2014
TO CITE THIS ARTICLE / PARA CITAR ESTE ARTÍCULO
Abadía, Marc ela, Criminal Justice Policy throu gh the Use of Indicators:
The Case of Sex ual Violence in the Armed Co nict in Colombia, 25 Inter-
national L aw, Revista Colomb iana de Dere cho Internaci onal, 17-52 (2014)
ht tp :// dx .d oi .o rg /1 0.1114 4/ Ja ve ri a na .i l14 -2 5. cj pt .
doi: 10.11144/Javeriana.il14-25.cjpt
ISSN:1692-8156
* This stud y was made possi ble by the nanc ial support of th e Internation al Development
Resear ch Centre (IDRC), of Canada , under the proj ect Gl ob al Ad mi ni str at ive La w: I mp ro v-
ing Inter-i nstitutiona l Connection s in Global a nd National Reg ulatory Gover nance. Proje ct
number: 106812-001
** Marcela Aba día is a crim inal trial law yer, Master in The ory of Law and PhD in Law at
the Universit y of the Ande s. Her resea rch intere sts have focuse d on femin ism and femi nist
crim inology. She has worke d as a resea rcher at the Ce ntre for Socio -Legal Rese arch,
CIJUS, Univers idad de los Andes and ha s been crimi nal law professor. Curre ntly, she
ser ves a s the D irec tor of Crim ina l and Pe nite ntia ry Pol icy a t the M inis try o f Just ice a nd
Law.
Contact: gm.abadia126@uniandes.edu.co
Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 17-52, julio - diciembre de 2014
18 MARCELA ABADÍA
ABSTRACT
The construction of indicators on sexual violence in the Colombian armed
conict r esult from the statement of th e unconstitutional stat e of affairs
issued by th e Court in se ntence T-025 of 2004 and espec ially in writ 092
of 2008 throug h which the Court dec ided to protect the right s of women
who are victi ms of forced displ acement caus ed by the arme d conict. Th is
constru ction has be en establi shed as cr ucial for the gu idelines of public
criminal policy in the country. This process of constructing indicators
has been ch aracteriz ed by an active part icipation of femin ist NGOs and by
a collect ive constru ction proce ss includi ng the women's movements, t he
Constitution al Court and the Govern ment.
This pape r aims at il lustrating how t his way of constr ucting in dicators,
especi ally with the involvement of what I cal l punishment feminism, may
have the potentia l to determi ne public crim inal polic ies intended to g uide
the way the state shou ld deal with s exual viol ence, even sex ual violen ce
that occu rs outside the context of i nternal arme d conict. The d iscussion
will be b ased on the idea of the i ndicator as a govern ment technology an d
its use as a way to leg itimize what has b een named “new formal pu nitive
control on sexua l crimes.”
Keywords: i ndicator; s exual viole nce; crim inal pol icy; punitive c ontrol;
femin ism
Int. Law: Rev. Colomb. Derecho Int. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 25: 17-52, julio - diciembre de 2014
19
CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY THROUGH THE USE OF INDICATORS
RESUMEN
La constru cción de indicadores so bre violencia sexual en el marco d el con-
icto armado i nterno colombiano, de rivada de las órdenes imp artidas en la
sentencia T- 025 de 2004 de la C orte Constituciona l, y en especíco del a uto
de seguimi ento 092 of 2008 —a partir del cua l la Corte decidió proteger los
derechos de la s mujeres vícti mas del d esplazami ento forzado —, se ha n conver-
tido en elem entos centrales para la j ación de políticas cri minales en el país
en materia de vi olencia sexual. E ste proceso de construcci ón de indicadores
ha sido ade más caracteri zado por una activa participaci ón conjunta entre
organizaciones n o gubernamen tales feministas, la Corte C onstitucional y el
gobierno colombiano.
Este artículo busca ilustrar cómo esta manera conjunta de construcción
de indica dores, especi almente con la i ntervención de lo que acá de nomino
feminismo d el castigo, pueden potencialm ente tener la capacidad de d eter-
minar política s públicas crimi nales dirigid as a establecer la man era en que el
Estado debe lid iar con la violencia sexua l, incluyendo la ocur rida por fuera
del contexto del con icto armad o interno. La d iscusión e stará fundam entada
en la idea del i ndicador como tecn ología de gobierno y su us o como manera
de legitimar l o que ha sido de nominad o “nuevas forma s de control formal
penal sobre delito s sexuales”.
Palabras clave: indicador; violencia sexual ; política crimin al; control formal
penal; feminismo
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION.- I. CRIMINAL POLICY, SEXUAL VIOLENCE, AND THE RHETORIC
OF INDICATORS.- II. INDICATORS AND NEW PUNITIVENESS.- CON CLUSIONS.- BI-
BLIOGRAPHY.
To continue reading
Request your trial