Bogotá, Colombia – Jennifer Pedraza has been one of the most instrumental voices in protecting women’s rights in Colombia since entering the political arena in 2022 at the age of 26.
Representing the leftist Dignidad y Compromiso (Dignity and Commitment) party, in recent years her work has helped push through legislation banning child marriage, prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM), and combatting human trafficking.
Speaking to Latin America Reports in her office in Bogotá’s Congress building – less than two weeks before the election of hardline outsider Abelardo de la Espriella as Colombia’s new president – Pedraza was unequivocally critical of his controversial hard-right views, yet nevertheless optimistic about the future of women’s rights in the country.
“[Espriella] refers to us as an extension of men [and] compares us to commodities; he has said that happiness in life lies in a bottle of French wine, an English car and a Colombian woman.”
Her view of the Colombian feminist movement – backed by a Congress that has reached 30% female representation – is one that will continue to defend the hard-won progress made towards gender equality in recent years.
“The women’s movement in Colombia is one of the most independent, one of the most militant, one of the most autonomous,” which in her opinion didn’t rest on its laurels under the current presidency of leftist Gustavo Petro, unlike other social movements.
“One movement that didn’t fall asleep under this government was the women’s movement.”
This is evident in the legislative changes pushed through in recent years. This June, FGM – defined as the removal or injury to female genitalia for non-medical reasons and widely recognized as a violation of human rights – was prohibited in Colombia, the only Latin American nation in which the practice has been recorded.
In 2007 national attention was brought to the issue of FGM after the death of a baby girl from the Emberá tribe.
“Emberá women – young women in particular – have sought to fight within those communities to eradicate [FGM] but they have done so alone. So, the purpose of our law is for the State to support them on that journey […] by funding prevention and education campaigns”
She recognizes that those carrying out female genital mutilation are not “ogres or monsters who appear in these communities; rather, they are the traditional midwives […] who have reached places where the Colombian State has not, to ensure that girls can be born.”
Pedraza highlights that the legislation avoids taking a “punitive approach; it does not create a criminal offence […] on the contrary, it takes a cultural approach to eradicating this practice.”
The Senator was also pivotal in the passing of the law in 2025 to prohibit child marriage, closing a loophole that had previously allowed children to marry from the age of fourteen.
According to Pedraza, this practice survived so long in Colombia due to “a patriarchal conception of love, where that vision of romance takes precedence over the protection of children’s rights.”
Pedraza also highlighted that as the age of sexual consent in Colombia is 14, many people believed that this signified that teenage girls were also ready for marriage.
According to the Senator, the 30% female participation in congress was instrumental to the passing of the bill, which took eight attempts: “With such significant female participation, this paved the way for us to pass many laws that had previously been blocked.”
Also passed this year was the new initiative “Con la trata no hay trato” (With trafficking there is no deal) which has strengthened outdated anti-trafficking legislation and pivoted to a victim centered and gender based approach.
“[Trafficking is] a very serious problem because there’s a lack of job opportunities for young women,” said Pedraza. “Unemployment in Colombia is extremely high – it’s extremely high amongst young people, but especially for young women.”
According to government statistics, whilst the unemployment rate of the general population sits at 9.2%, the female unemployment rate is 11.7% and the youth unemployment rate higher still at 16.5%.
The new initiative also takes into account the very modern challenge of combatting trafficking amidst the rise in use of social media to lure young women into dangerous situations.
“When you see a job offer on TikTok with conditions that nobody else is offering, and you’re in need – perhaps you have people depending on you – then you consider that,” explained Pedraza.
Another issue that fuels the issue of human trafficking in Colombia – wherein
80% of victims are women – is its position as a key route for migrant or refugee women, including many from neighbouring Venezuela who have fallen victim to trafficking.
With the new legislation Pedraza hopes that the members of the judicial system will also be educated in the prevention of trafficking with more government funding sent to this cause.
Pedraza also highlights that the “fetishization of Colombian women abroad [has created] a favourable environment for sexual exploitation,” which represents the majority (nearly 70%) of cases of human trafficking.
She mentioned that at a hearing to discuss the issue, representatives of the police force “said that the security forces themselves had been infiltrated by human trafficking networks… [International trafficking] requires the complicity of the immigration authorities and the security forces.”
Looking ahead to the next presidential term, Pedraza is optimistic that the women’s movement is resilient enough to face potential challenges from Espriella’s presidency. A focus on so-called traditional family values as well as his public comments and conduct towards women have all faced criticism from feminists.
“I believe that Colombia has a solid institutional framework to defend the laws we have won,” explained Pedraza. “We have what it takes to defend the gains we’ve made so far.”
Featured image credit: Jennifer Pedraza via Facebook.