Gang Rape as a Combat Incentive in Colombia: A Contribution to the Duty of Memory on Sexual Violence Based on Women’s Testimonies

Abstract

The article examines gang rape as a strategic practice employed by paramilitary groups in Colombia, proposing the hypothesis that this crime operated both as a mechanism to incentivize combat and as an extreme expression of misogyny and control over women’s bodies. Its central aim is to contribute to the duty of memory by rendering visible a form of sexual violence that has been historically silenced, drawing on the testimony of a survivor.

The text is organized into several sections: an introduction discussing the place of sexual violence within the armed conflict; a theoretical framework reviewing studies on the variation of sexual violence in wartime; a testimonial section reconstructing the collective rape of a rural woman; an analytical section addressing misogyny, ritualized violence, group dynamics, and the traumatic effects of rape; and, finally, a concluding section.

The article argues that gang rape constitutes a symbol of patriarchal terror and a systematically denied crime whose silencing has contributed to impunity. By making a survivor’s testimony public, the work becomes an act of ethical remembrance, indispensable for recognizing victims, dismantling patriarchal narratives, and strengthening guarantees of non-repetition.