The resignation of Deputy Minister of Equality Acxan Duque, following a complaint of alleged sexual harassment of an official in his office, triggered an immediate crisis within the Colombian government over alleged behavior that includes sending an intimate photograph of the now former deputy minister without the employee’s consent.
The case broke amid a week marked by other similar complaints that have shaken both politics and the country’s media and have placed workplace power dynamics at the center of public debate.
The official’s departure coincides with a wave of accusations that, under the momentum of #MeToo, has exposed behaviors that for years remained largely out of public view.
Although this type of reporting movement reached its global peak nearly a decade ago, in Colombia it now appears to have reached a breaking point, with direct consequences for institutions and high-profile figures.
#MeToo storm in Colombia forces out Deputy Minister of Equality
Acxan Duque submitted his resignation after an internal complaint against him became known, alleging that he sent an intimate image to an official at the Ministry of Equality. According to the then deputy minister’s account, the content was sent by mistake and was intended for his partner. However, the official stated that she did not request that material and that the situation made her uncomfortable, especially given that he was her direct superior.
The case was made public by conservative presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, who demanded explanations and even questioned the existence of the ministry. From that moment on, the complaint ceased to be an internal matter and became a topic of national debate.
“What is happening in this government is disgusting. I reiterate my urgent call to the Ministry (…) to provide full protection to the victim. In the Ministry of waste, the massive parallel payroll and the poor execution, officials would also be victims of harassment,” the presidential candidate added.
In this regard, the Minister of Equality, Lucho Acosta, issued a statement reporting that the senior official was removed from his post and that the case was immediately referred to the Attorney General’s Office and to political oversight bodies so that the entities can investigate the facts. Likewise, the “Voces Vivas” protocol was activated to guarantee the protection of the victim and prevent revictimization.
“In this Ministry we do not tolerate, we do not minimize, and we do not cover up any form of violence against women (…). There is no room here for privileges, hierarchies, or complicit silence (…). We state this firmly: no position of power can become a place of impunity,” the minister said in the official statement.
Compartimos a la opinión pública el comunicado del ministro de Igualdad y Equidad, Lucho Acosta, ante la denuncia por presunto acoso sexual atribuido a un alto funcionario de esta entidad: "En este Ministerio no toleramos, no minimizamos y no encubrimos… pic.twitter.com/QgWZLZUY4u
— Ministerio de Igualdad y Equidad de Colombia (@MinIgualdad_Col) March 26, 2026
The late surge of #MeToo in Colombia
The resignation occurred in parallel with a series of allegations against well-known hosts from the local channel Caracol Television, which triggered a chain reaction within Colombian journalism.
The accusations led to the departures of prominent figures and the opening of investigations, creating an atmosphere of scrutiny without recent precedent.
Through social media, dozens of women began sharing testimonies of harassment under hashtags such as #MeTooColombia, revealing repeated patterns of behavior and a deeply rooted culture of silence across different professional sectors. The visibility of these accounts has been key to amplifying the debate.
Although in other countries the #MeToo movement gained momentum starting in 2017, in Colombia its impact had been more limited. The current context shows a change in scale: the allegations are not only accumulating, but also generating immediate consequences, both in the media and in politics.
Nearly a decade later, this movement has erupted forcefully and threatens to continue exposing behaviors, until now hidden, that challenge a way of understanding social and workplace relationships that had previously managed to avoid being reported.
The surge began a week ago with the first allegations against the two journalists and hosts, who after seven days continue to face accusations from women reporting identical patterns of behavior over the years.
This is why organizations and voices within journalism have pointed out that, until now, many of these situations did not move forward due to a lack of guarantees for complainants or fear of retaliation. The current wave of testimonies suggests that those barriers are beginning to break down, although doubts remain about the system’s ability to respond effectively.
The case has also tested the institutional response. The speed with which the resignation took place contrasts with past experiences in which similar allegations took longer to produce visible consequences.
Amid this context, Colombia faces a moment that compels it to define itself as a society: the accumulation of allegations, social pressure, and media exposure have opened space for deeper change.
Complaint and electoral dispute
The Duque case, however, quickly took on a political dimension due to his position in the government. Paloma Valencia’s intervention not only helped spread the complaint, but also brought the episode into the electoral debate. From the opposition, the case was used to question the Government’s performance and, in particular, the consistency of its discourse on equality.
This situation has drawn criticism from various sectors, which warn of the risk of instrumentalizing harassment complaints for political purposes. However, it has also highlighted how gender issues have become a central axis of public confrontation.
What is certain is that candidate Valencia shared on her social media a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between the complainant official, whose identity is unknown, and the deputy minister and head of the Legal Advisory Office, Acxan Duque. The chat shows that the official sent a photo of himself naked, along with a TikTok link.
The episode occurs in a context of high polarization, in which any scandal quickly takes on an electoral reading. In that scenario, the line between demanding accountability and political calculation becomes blurred.
Beyond the complaint, subsequent interpretations reveal the political instrumentalization of an event that undoubtedly deserves the most unanimous condemnation. However, in the current electoral climate in Colombia, this does not appear likely to happen.
“These alleged abuses cannot happen. We need immediate action to protect women! The Government of Change [the name the Petro administration has given itself] has turned out to be the biggest lie in history,” Valencia said in her social media post, in an attempt not only to link the scandal to the already heavily questioned Ministry of Equality, but to the current government as a whole.