Approach, Adjust or Avoid? : A descriptive case study on how women human rights defenders in Colombia cope with political violence

Violence targeting politically active women is increasingly researched and recognised as a barrier to gender equal political participation. Previous studies on political violence targeting women have tended to focus on women in formal politics and mostly on the prevalence of violence rather than the impact it has on actors who continue to navigate violent political contexts. This case study uses semi-structured, digital interviews with eighteen Colombian women human rights defenders, focusing on their appraisal of (gendered) political violence and the coping strategies they use to navigate their political space. It finds that both strategies that involve taking up more political space and strategies with a silencing impact are used. For women human rights defenders in Colombia, their geographical conditions and access to resources, especially networks, are important factors to take into account when describing their possibilities to cope with political violence. Their perceptions of where and how gendered political violence occurs indicate that disproportionate impacts of political violence can be underestimated if research and policy does not account for the experiences of different groups of women. The thesis finds that studying lived experiences and micro-level mechanisms can contribute to the literature on macro-level phenomena such as barriers to participation, political violence and marginalisation.