Reproductive Justice in the Colombian Armed Conflict

Abstract

This study explores the impacts of armed conflict on women's sexual and reproductive health in Colombia, building on a reproductive justice perspective on original interviews with stakeholders in healthcare, women's rights, and peacebuilding. The analysis reveals a threefold impact of war on women's sexual and reproductive health, through violent politicization, collateral damage, and intersectional dimensions. Multiple armed actors have used women's health as an instrument in politically motivated strategies to increase their power, assigning political meaning to sexuality and reproduction within the context of war. Women's health has also suffered from secondary damages of conflict resulting from a range of factors. Marginalized women have been particularly affected by a discriminatory nexus of poverty, ethnicity, and geographic inequality. The article concludes with a reflection on opportunities for reproductive justice in Colombia.