Colombia marks today a new Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, with a calendar of events and social mobilizations aimed at making visible a problem that still underlies Colombian society, as in the rest of the world.
Despite the symbolic nature of these commemorations, authorities and social activists emphasize that this day must serve as an urgent and persistent call to action to confront a problem deeply rooted in the social structure. This day marks the beginning of the so-called 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a global cycle that invites reflection, denunciation, awareness, and prevention.
Despite progress in prevention and reporting, violence against women in the South American country continues to rise, with high rates of crimes of a sexual nature, which also affect girls and adolescents. The problem is global, and the data is chilling: In the last five years, Latin America has recorded — officially — 19,254 femicides.
Nov. 25 in Colombia: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
The choice of Nov. 25 dates back to the 1960 assassination of the Mirabal sisters — Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa — in the Dominican Republic, due to their political activism against the Trujillo dictatorship.
Their memory became a symbol of resistance. But it was, interestingly, in Bogota in 1981, during the First Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encounter, that the proposal emerged to commemorate each Nov. 25 as a day to denounce violence against women. Then, in 1999, the United Nations General Assembly institutionalized the date.
This day, therefore, is both one of commemoration and action: It is not only about remembering the past, but recognizing that gender-based violence has not disappeared, and that we continue fighting to eradicate it.
Although often invisible, violence against women in Colombia is a massive and growing problem, as shown by various official reports. According to the “Vivas Nos Queremos” observatory, between January and September 2025, Colombia recorded 621 femicides, 79 attempted homicides, and 19 murders of people from the LGBTIQ+ community.
In 2024, more than 200 women in Colombia were murdered in acts of gender-based violence. These data show that 68% of femicide cases were committed by the victims’ partners or former partners.
In this sense, Colombia begins today 16 days — until next Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day — to denounce this scourge of violence against women, in a reality that sadly has a global dimension.
According to the United Nations, 1 in 3 women has suffered physical or sexual violence from a partner or another person at some point in her life, while the World Health Organization reports that, in the last 12 months, 11% of women over the age of 15 who have been in a relationship reported experiencing physical or sexual violence.
Concrete actions: between protest, support, and prevention
The beginning of these 16 days of denouncing this reality takes place today, and in Colombia, as every year, multiple events of visibility and support are carried out. In many cities, feminist organizations call for marches, demonstrations, and symbolic actions to demand justice and denounce persistent manifestations of sexist violence.
At the institutional level, entities such as the National Police join the commemoration, reminding the public that there is a vital orientation hotline: Line 155, a free, confidential, 24-hour channel for victims or people who know women in need of help.
Bogota’s District Secretariat for Women, for its part, has reported that the Purple Line also serves people seeking emotional support, information about institutional pathways, and preventive services.
Additionally, agencies such as the National Institute of Legal Medicine join international campaigns such as “Paint the World Orange,” promoted by the U.N., to call on citizens to assume shared responsibility in building a society free of violence.
💜 Este #25N recordamos que Bogotá, mi ciudad, mi casa, avanza con hechos:
Atención psicosocial 24/7, presencia territorial en las CIOM, duplas de acompañamiento, orientación jurídica, apoyo en hospitales, Casas Refugio y más.
Cada servicio protege a una mujer que decidió no… pic.twitter.com/HelwRA7OMd— Alcaldía de Bogotá (@Bogota) November 25, 2025
The dimension of the armed conflict and its gender impact in Colombia
For many women in Colombia, violence does not stem solely from the family environment: It has also been part of the armed conflict. According to the Unit for the Victims, around 3.72 million women have been victims of the internal armed conflict, including sexual violence, displacement, threats, and other forms of victimization.
These women have been leaders in their communities, organizing to demand truth, reparation, and nonrepetition, and their role is fundamental in the social fabric that denounces the structural violence that runs through the country.
The Victims and Land Restitution Law has incorporated a gender approach to recognize these particularities and account for the multiplicity of violence women experience depending on their ethnicity, age, or condition.
It was precisely this gender approach that was established in the Peace Agreement signed in 2016 between the Colombian state and the now-defunct FARC, something that was heavily criticized by ultrareligious sectors and the far right opposed to those accords. Nine years later, however, understanding that the conflict doubly affected women — both as direct victims of violence and because of their gender — has proven entirely accurate, according to experts in restorative justice derived from that historic Havana peace agreement.
Despite progress, violence against women remains a shameful social scourge. Prevention, reporting, and state prosecution are necessary mechanisms to prevent the perpetuation of violence that is inadmissible in any society. Nevertheless, only education will — perhaps one day — definitively eradicate these criminal behaviors with atavistic roots.