A territory that does not forget: traces of pain in the women of San Onofre Colombia

Abstract

Objective: To recognize the scenarios, actors and dynamics that allow the emergence of meanings constructed by female victims exposed to the armed conflict in San Onofre, as a consequence of sexual violence carried out by paramilitaries. Method: Qualitative research was implemented through grounded theory using symbolic interactionism to originate the theory from the meanings that arise from the interaction between people and their environment. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were used to collect the information. Results: The substantive product theory demonstrated the characteristics of the experience of sexual violence in women, which symbolizes unease, exile, destruction of their goals and projects, in addition to the difficulty in forgiving, due to the magnitude of the damage caused and the failure to comply with the legislation that should protect the woman victim of such violence. Added to this, the nature of the territory with distinctive representations and insignia of the inextinguishable and perpetual traces of the ignominy of criminal acts and the pain on the body of the woman. Conclusions: San Onofre has been and continues to be a forgotten town, frightened and silenced by criminal gangs. The women victims of sexual violence from the armed conflict in this research are Afro-Colombian, in precarious economic conditions, without job security, but fighters for a promising future for their children, despite the situation of indifference and the lack of timely care for the guarantee of their rights to rehabilitation and compensation for their pain.