My research this week has given me a new perspective on the life that I am fortunate enough to live, and has given me the drive to learn more and help women in other countries who are suffering at the hands of their loved ones. In Colombia, domestic and sexual violence is one of the most prevalent health issues that women face every day of their lives. Perhaps the most saddening fact about this is that the majority of the offenders are the male spouses. This continuous cycle of abuse that flows through generations is doing nothing but holding women back in society. These physical and psychological scars result in women being unable to lend their labor or ideas fully, which is often described as the hidden obstacle to economic and social development (Heise 1993). Draining a woman’s energy and confidence in turn deprives society of full participation, and weakens its power to succeed or prosper at the same rate as the rest of the world.

In addition to the emotional toll that is taken on a women of abuse, oftentimes they are left with something even more life-changing: an unintended pregnancy. It seems as though the rate of unintended pregnancies in Colombia is astonishingly high, which can be attributed directly to this sexual abuse that is so unfortunately common. In 2000, the Demographic and Health Survey for Colombia explored this relationship and found astonishing results. It seemed that 55% of Colombian respondents had at least on unintended pregnancy, and 38% were physically or psychologically abused. Estimates show that an elimination of partner violence in Colombia would result in about 32,000-44,000 fewer unintended pregnancies annually (Pallitto, et al 2004). Much of this recurrent violence can be attributed to intergenerational trauma. Not only so some children witness the abuse and coercion that their mothers face, but they themselves may even be the result of rape and an unintended prenancy. 

As previously mentioned, this cycle of abuse is nothing new to the women of Colombia. They and their ancestors have lived lives involving domestic sexual violence for generations, and it was not until recently that the Colombian government even acknowledged it. My research showed that every author or journalist willing to unearth the horrors of Colombian abuse was also quick to suggest ways the problem can be mended or eliminated. Amongst other things, some are pushing for the further provision of postabortion care and reduced costs by providing services at primary level facilities in a timely manner (Prada, et al. 2013), while others have indicated a strong need to include intimate partner violence screening and treatment in reproductive health programs in an effort to promote men’s involvement in fertility control programs, and to improve the social and political response to intimate partner violence (Pallitto, et al 2004). While I definitely see the benefit of imposing each of these proposals into the Colombian system, I think that much progress can be made by simply reframing violence against women as a health issue rather than an irreversible cultural phenomenon. 

Even in a well-developed country like the United States I can find room for improvement considering this reframing, which leads me to believe there is certainly room for growth in Colombia. In America, I think there is still such a strong negative stigma surrounding mental health, and much of the public struggling to believe it’s merit in the healthcare field. Simply because it is not a visible disease such as the flu, it still is something that people around the world struggle with and fear to get help. I believe that this physical and mental abuse that spouses are imposing on their wives in Colombia is similar to what we face at home, although on a much larger scaled level. Women are terrified to reach out to others in an effort to receive help, either because they are afraid of their husband or because they will be seen as a weak and inadequate wife. From my perspective, I think it would be best if the country designated resources similar to those we have even on our college campus; safe hotlines and people that perhaps would or would not be required to report, but provide women with help and allow them to feel like a survivor rather than just a victim. There are many ways that Colombia can go about reframing the intergenerational trauma that they are struggling with, but I have no doubt that this will take many generations. It is very difficult for a child who has grown up observing abuse to one day simply forget about it and move on in his or her life. Not only will it affect the way he raises his own children, but also the way he acts at school, work, and any other social entities. The intergenerational trauma becomes a culture of the younger generation, and feeds into the next, whether it is intentional or not. I understand it may take time, and in a country so culturally unchanged for many years, perhaps controversial, I believe that positive change is possible. 

Prada, Elena, et al. “The Cost of Postabortion Care and Legal Abortion in Colombia.” JStor, Guttmacher Institute, Sept. 2013, www-jstor-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/stable/1566490?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Pallitto, Christina, and Patricia O’Campo. “The Relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy; Analyses If a National Sample from Colombia.” JStor, Guttmacher Institute, Dec. 2004, www-jstor-org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/stable/1566490?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Heise, Lori. “Violence against Women: the Hidden Health Burden .” WHSQ, 1993, apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/48688/WHSQ_1993_46_No.1_p78-85_eng.pdf.