The bill that seeks to add to the criminal code an article called “abuse of sexual trust” in which the fact of withdrawing any type of sexual protection barrier that has been agreed upon at the beginning of intercourse is classified as a crime , generated controversy due to the relationship it would have with the decision of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to decriminalize abortion up to the 24th week of gestation in children under 14 years of age.
DIARIO DEL HUILA, CLOSE UP
By: Johan Edward Rojas Lopez
This week it was learned that the Ministry of Health and Social Protection made firm the decision to decriminalize abortion until the 24th week of pregnancy, by adopting the necessary regulations to guarantee this right, which includes girls and young people. The regulations guarantee that, from now on, pregnant people under 14 years of age can voluntarily terminate their pregnancy without requiring the authorization of their parents or legal guardians.
This once again revived the controversy that arose last year over a bill that seeks to add to the criminal code an article called “abuse of sexual trust” in which the removal of any type of barrier is classified as a crime of sexual protection that has been agreed upon at the beginning of intercourse. In November, the First Committee of the House of Representatives approved the project that seeks to classify the above as sexual harassment.
“Add article 210-B to Law 599 of 2000, which will read as follows: Article 210-B. Abuse of sexual trust. Whoever, during the sexual relationship, without violence or intimidation and without consent, performs acts that violate sexual freedom, including the removal of the sexual protection barrier, will incur imprisonment from two (2) to four (4) years”, reads the paper.
The document also points out that the media may create dissemination campaigns to raise awareness about the criminal nature of the practice referred to in this law and educate about complaint and reparation mechanisms. This would be a mechanism, a tool for judges. But, above all, for those victims who have no way to defend themselves and how to report this abuse that today has become a recurring practice. Also, the scope of this bill has to do with economics, since monetary fines could be imposed in economic favor of the victim of this sexual practice.
Also read: Transporters from Huila have been forced to travel through the “springboard of death”
Julián Peinado, representative to the Chamber and author of the initiative, explained that “the legislator wants to penalize those behaviors that are abusive of sexual trust. This conduct will be penalized in our country criminally. In other countries they have progressed differently and have detected that this may be a kind of violation. The issue is that, in Colombia, rape depends on violent carnal access. In these circumstances there is no such fact, so it is very difficult to sanction it.
Relationship between abortion and the bill
Erika Saldarriaga González, an activist doctor for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, belonging to the Huilense Defense and Accompaniment Network in DSR – RHUDA, determined that it is important to remember that since sentence 355 of 2006 that decriminalized abortion under three grounds and one of she included the subject of sexual abuse. However, with sentence 055 of 2022 it was extended so that it can be requested freely until week 24.
“Then the fact that there is a clear resentment, not only legal and judicial, but also social, that this conduct indicated in the bill is a type of sexual violence opens the possibility for victims who for some reason could not access the procedure before week 24 can be accessed through the grounds of sexual violence given that it would continue to be adhered to by the grounds previously determined by the Constitutional Court,” he said.
Would the bill increase pregnancies and abortions?
Now, faced with this question, Saldarriaga González specified that it is very difficult to quantify or measure this given that many of the women who access abortions related to some type of sexual violence often do not necessarily express that the pregnancy was the product of this situation and it is that they are situations in many traumatic cases where women do not feel confident to denounce thinking of all the repercussion and judicious social that falls on the victims.
It may interest you: The construction of the PAE pilot plan in Huila advances slowly
“It is not something that is being measured, therefore, it is not known if it will decrease, but what is certain is that by once again looking at cases of sexual abuse, we hope that these campaigns communicate that they promote bill also take into account the other sexual and reproductive rights, in addition, that could have an impact on sexual violence and, of course, it could open a gap so that women have more information, ”said the activist.
He argued, under this logic, that it seems to him that this bill is very viable and above all very pertinent because at the moment in which a person with his autonomy decides to have some type of sexual relationship, that consent must be respected and if the other person chooses to do the opposite, their decision is already being transgressed there.
He added then that, “at the moment in which this decision is not respected, not only is there a risk of an unwanted pregnancy, but also, there is a risk of contracting a series of diseases and, therefore, it must be classified as like sexual violence. The challenge beyond the crime will be how the courts will determine whether the crime is actually being committed, taking into account a gender approach in the evolution of the evidence that may be presented”.
It is estimated that more than 90% of cases of sexual violence remain in the reporting stage and only between 1% or 2% end in convictions, even in cases involving children and adolescents. In this sense, if action is not taken in legal and social instances, in addition, if the mechanisms are not generated so that the processes really come to terms, it will be very difficult for the victims to report and, therefore, the bill leaves the possibility of carrying out educational campaigns in this regard. This is very important for the spread of the new crime.
“The mere existence of a crime does not generate significant social changes if they are not accompanied by an awareness of the judicial apparatus and comprehensive quality sexual education. If it is approved, it would be necessary to put the magnifying glass on how its implementation is generated so that it really is an action that generates an impact and does not remain as one more crime than the many that we have classified and that ultimately are not effective in convictions, ”he concluded. .