Colombia: Victims of sexual violence are allowed to post allegations on social media

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18,000 people reported sexual abuse in Colombia in 2020 (symbol image)

Photo: GUILLERMO LEGARIA / Getty Images

According to a court decision, victims of sexual abuse in Colombia are allowed to publish allegations against the alleged perpetrators in online networks.

The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled on dozens of posts under the hashtag #acosadorsexual (sexual attacker) on Facebook and other online platforms.

Numerous users had published photos of their alleged attackers there.

In some posts women are warned about the alleged perpetrators.

In others, incidents are described in detail and pictures are added.

The judges found that the damage that an alleged attacker "may suffer" from the publication is less than that "which a victim suffers if they remain silent for fear of being sued for the contribution".

A man who had been accused of abuse by his partner in the network had sued.

In a Facebook post, the young woman described that her partner had exploited a “state of weakness” that she found herself in after consuming alcohol and “other psychoactive substances”.

The incident put a strain on her mental health and she initially hesitated to report it out of fear.

The post had been shared more than 200 times.

The partner, who denies the allegations and speaks of an "amicable" encounter, had asked the court to delete the contribution and a public apology.

However, the court dismissed his complaint, stating that "crime victims have the right to freely and publicly denounce the events they have suffered."

In 2020, more than 18,000 people, including nearly 15,500 women, turned to Colombia's medical investigative body about suspected cases of sexual abuse.

kry / AFP