By: Hugo Fernando Cabrera Ochoa
The complaints made by Gustavo Bolívar after presenting his resignation to the Senate of the Republic, which was accepted by Resolution 166, dated December 31, 2022, based on the legal powers of Law 5 of 1992, has generated great commotion and It has made many and many dust off the history of sexual harassment by members of different institutions, parties and political movements in our country.
Let us remember that in an interview carried out and published by Semana Magazine, the former senator Bolívar denounced that in Congress there is a network of sexual slavery in exchange for economic favors and labor contracts, something that generated great stinging in high society, double moralist and prudish , who is part of the Colombian Creole jet set.
Given this statement, strong accusations came to the fore that splashed renowned personalities of national public life, including Víctor de Currea – Lugo, who had been appointed ambassador of the United Arab Emirates by the Colombian Foreign Ministry. This appointment generated a national uproar, because some organizations and women pointed it out for alleged sexual harassment.
The topic gives a lot to talk about and for this reason other complaints were made public, such as the one published by the columnist Ana Bejarano Ricaurte, on the Los Danieles web portal, entitled “The names that are missing”, there they are mentioned without censorship, truly unfortunate, dirty facts and absolutely low, which apparently have occurred in the high spheres of politics.
And it is not that this type of realities only happens against women, or they have already forgotten the denunciations of Ángelo Palacios, the ex-policeman who revealed what at the time was known as the “community of the ring”; an alleged prostitution cartel that worked within the National Police. Let us recall this unfortunate scandal that shook the institution and the entire country, and that led to the resignation of the then commander, Rodolfo Palomino.
Other situations related to this same matter have also been known at the regional and even local level. Unfortunately, it is an impudent practice on the part of those who have economic or hierarchical power, who take advantage of the need of some ladies and gentlemen, to subject them to deplorable circumstances, which are generally not publicly denounced.
As a result of what was stated by Gustavo Bolívar, the Legal Commission for the Equity of Women in the Congress of the Republic (CLEM) announced the creation of a new protocol for complaints against harassment and violence against women.
Through a statement, this legislative cell, with the aim of strengthening the fight against sexual harassment and other crimes against women internally and externally, summoned the Minister of Labor, the Sexual Crimes Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office, to the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, experts on the subject and different organizations, to carry out a diagnosis and characterization of sexual harassment in the workplace in Colombia through a session of the Commission and work groups , that allows to find concrete, fast and effective solutions, to eradicate this type of violence.
Meanwhile, Professor Víctor de Currea – Lugo decided not to accept his position as ambassador to the Asian country.