Complaints against the Secretariat for Women, a victim exposes her experience on social networks

Through social networks, a complaint was brought to the attention of failures in the care pathway for women at the risk of femicideOn Twitter, user @eneroetereo shared his experience on March 3 in the process of reporting and requesting support for the District Secretary for Womenwould have been re-victimized.

“Woman from Bogotá: if you have the opportunity to denounce your attacker, waste it”, with this sentence begins the Twitter thread shared by Milahow the user identifies in this social network, which has been shared by 626 profiles and has more than 179,000 views.

In the text it was explained that the complaint process is “degrading”, the victims are “overexposed” and “revictimized”, the points underlined by Mila are delayed attention and denial of access to shelter housesas well as multiple barriers to accessing the justice system.

Although the user first recognized the friendly treatment of the northern subnet, but indicated that the problems occurred at the following levels of care, “The problem is that the instances that must continue care do not listen don’t, don’t read, They don’t show up, they forget, they always have unjustified delays in care,” the victim said in her post.

With reference to the legal support service offered by the District Women’s Secretariat, indicated that appointments can take more than a month, and although they provide advice, there would be no accompaniment during hearings. He alleged that when another citizen asks for help, the consultation ends, arguing that “there is a lot of volume and everything is for now,” he said in testimony.

The text also talks about the problems in accessing the service of the shelter housesa strategy aimed at safeguarding the rights of victims, at risk of femicide and other manifestations of gender violence, since the plaintiff explained that to access these “thousand conditions must be met”.

When the complainant explained to the official the vicissitudes and problems of having a 73-year-old woman, the victim’s mother, be responsible for the safety of a woman at risk of femicidewould not have reacted confidently.

From this point, Mila Complaint that the referral to different officials has begun, likewise I note the discomfort of the official, who would have said to him: “You see comfortable, yes you can? This one is far from being a palace. Because we can’t regret it and we can’t put other women in danger (sic)”.

He explained that he was ultimately unable to access the benefit, a decision that was reportedly encouraged by officials responsible for receiving and processing the application, which is why he complained that his safety currently depends on his own resources. .

He also mentions the problems he encountered in filing a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, where he was asked for a forensic opinion, which he was never told he had to deal with. In front of the national police, this does not allow access to a copy of the protective measure, nor to any recording of it.

“Discriminatory patterns, inappropriate assessment, laziness of authorities administering justice, callousness and lack of empathy are on the agenda with those in charge of all the institutions that should protect you,” he said. he said on his Twitter feed.

In the end, the woman expressed the fear that afflicts her when she goes out in the public space, because she is aware that she can be the victim of physical violence and in the worst case of femicide. A situation that in itself violates their rights and bears witness to the failures of care pathways to guarantee their recovery.

In the publication there is a response from the official account of the Women’s Secretariat, in which he asks you to contact him to suggest a new support approach. In communication with this media, the victim told that he lost confidence in all the institutions and that after the complaint on the networks, the Secretariat only asked him for information to re-examine the file, without providing further guidance or alternatives, for which she feels only he cared about her data.

He expressed his vulnerability, because due to so many steps to access justice and protection, he has to move around the city, without having benefited from any protective measures, while stating that his attacker continues to stay. Going unpunished, mocking the vulnerable situation this has pushed her into.

This is not the first time that failures and negligence have been publicly denounced by officials in charge of the care of women victims of gender-based violence in Bogotá, it is important to remember that similar complaints have been filed in d other cases in the past. As evidenced by the case of Hilary Castro, who after being sexually assaulted in a TransMilenio station, could not count on the necessary attention after the attack.