LBT women, other victims of Covid-19 pandemic
Rodrigo Ruiz Tovar
Bogotá, Jun 2 (EFE) .- The coronavirus pandemic has not only impacted health systems and economic growth, but also led to a spike in domestic violence and discrimination against vulnerable groups like lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women.
LBT women face double discrimination because of their gender and different sexual orientation, according to rights organizations at a virtual international forum in the Colombian capital Bogotá.
In 2020, 76 LGBT people were killed in Colombia, a 58% increase compared to the previous year, according to figures from the country’s Ombudsman Office.
Carolina Gomez, a Colombian lawyer and coordinator of Enterezas movement, believes biases against these women are higher than those against homosexual men.
“Violence against lesbian women has to do with the expectations of women,” Gomez told Efe.
“Women break the traditional role of becoming a mother because they have female partners and cannot procreate. What types of violence are identified? Corrective rapes, forced marriages, and sexual torture,” she said.
The Enterezas movement, partner with the Spanish Triangle Foundation, seeks to eliminate violence and discrimination against LBT women in Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. Ecuador, Paraguay, Panama and Mexico are to join the list soon.
The situation this community is facing will be addressed at the international forum, which is set to run until Friday.
Higher rates of violence against women from minority groups have been recorded amid the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. EFE
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