"Our Rights, Our Choice"

With this proposal, we seek to overcome the weaknesses in terms of comprehensive sex education for adolescents and young people who have been victims of violations of their rights in Medellín, Colombia, and who are in the custody of the Colombian State in protection institutions. 

Sexual violence (sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation) is a severe problem that affects the well-being and sexual and reproductive rights of children and adolescents in Colombia. [1] According to data from the Colombian Institute of Legal Medicine, in 2022, there were 20,877 alleged sexual crimes against minors in the country. This figure is higher than the records reported by this institute in previous years. [2]

According to Colombia's child protection system (Law 1098 of 2006), the Colombian State carries out an administrative process for the restoration of rights (PARD) when a child or adolescent's human rights are violated, including being a victim of sexual violence and violation of their sexual rights. Generally, PARD is carried out outside the family context in specialized protection institutions. [3] According to the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, the leading cause for the opening of PARD between 2012 and 2023 in Colombia is sexual violence.

Considering the above, a high percentage of minors in PARD protection institutions are victims of sexual violence. Despite this, research points to shortcomings in comprehensive sex education and promoting sexual and reproductive rights within these protection institutions. [4] 

A study that we are currently developing has identified that 53% of the young people who leave the protection institutions at the end of the PARD are victims of violations of their rights again, with sexual violence being one of the leading causes of the failure to guarantee the non-repetition of rights violations. These effects seem to affect women more frequently, the sexually diverse population, or those belonging to ethnic minority groups. A high percentage of young people who suffer repeated violations of their rights do not activate or utilize the existing care routes.

The previous shows severe difficulties for the effective enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights in a highly vulnerable population, which are caused, at least in part, by deficiencies in terms of comprehensive sex education within protection programs, especially in terms of access to information and empowerment for self-care, access to care routes and the enforceability of guaranteeing their sexual and reproductive rights. All of these threaten the dignified lives of this subgroup of young Colombians. 

 [1] Colombia, Ombudsman's Office. Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents in Colombia: Analysis of the State Response [Internet]. Ombudsman's Office; 2023. Available at: https://www.defensoria.gov.co/documents/20123/1657207/Informe_VIolenciaSexualNNA_VF130323_PDF.pdf/6e51a8ad-2945-a793-4e82-229a95e70537?t=1684956411844#:~:text=From%20agreement%20with%20the%20previous,0%20and%2017%20(15,370).

[2] https://www.medicinalegal.gov....

[3] Serna-Rendon GM, Muñoz-Echeverri IF, Lenta MM. Social representations of the process of restoring the rights of a group of adolescents in Medellín, Colombia. Soc and Childhoods. May 30, 2022; 6(1):67-76.

[4] Muñoz-Echeverri IF. The Open Modality of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, and its Response in Medellín, 1990-2016 [Thesis to aspire to the title of Doctor of Public Health]. [Medellín]: University of Antioquia, National Faculty of Public Health; 2018. 

In response to the stated problem, the solution is based on the methodological model of a research-based program with more than eight years of experience in youth participatory action research with adolescents and young people who are victims of their rights violations and in protection institutions specialized by PARD in Medellin, Colombia. 

This process uses participatory youth action research mediated by the arts to generate local knowledge, propose action strategies on various issues, and promote human rights and the dignified life of young people with life stories of rights violations because it recognizes the value of including the voices and experiences of girls, children, adolescents, and young people in decision-making on matters that affect them.

This proposal will be developed in four stages: (1) research, (2) reflection, (3) creation (4) evaluation, which is detailed below:

During our research, participatory inquiry will be carried out to recognize existing knowledge and build knowledge around sexual and reproductive rights. In the moment of reflection, we take what was produced in the first moment as an input for reflection in our life stories, intending to transform those issues that violate us and generate tools to live in the present and future sexual health in fullness. The third moment of creation is when we collectively co-create strategies to make a social impact based on the knowledge and reflections generated in the process. Finally, at the time of evaluation, we allow ourselves to examine the process to create improvement actions critically. 

Art, play, and play will be vital to dynamizing the entire research process. This approach will not only allow for greater community engagement and empowerment. Still, it will also generate creative products that have the potential to significantly impact the awareness and promotion of sexual and reproductive rights.

Since its inception, the GIDI Intergenerational Research Group has been committed to understanding the problems that violate the rights of children, adolescents, and especially young people who are part of or have experienced these programs for the care and restoration of rights of the Colombian State Protection System. Many GIDI youth have been victims of different threats and violations of their rights during their childhood and adolescence. Some of these violations include commercial sexual exploitation and other sexual and gender-based violence and abuse, which are the most recurrent reasons. 

 We know that, within the protection institutions where adolescents and young people have lived or live, there are no programs that prioritize the promotion, education, or training in sexual and reproductive rights, and even the participants have reported that it is an issue that is not mentioned by the adults who accompany them. In addition, as part of our research processes, we have recognized that more than 60% of the people who enter the protection system are adolescents and girls. 

 Nor does the Colombian State's protection system have a program of accompaniment after the end of the program for the care and restoration of rights. As a result, young people face multiple barriers to accessing educational opportunities, decent job offers, and even the health system; these conditions cause them to be exposed to commercial Sexual Exploitation or webcam modeling to sustain themselves financially. Many of them are also mothers and fathers at a young age. 53.3% are once again experiencing threats and/or violations of their rights. 

 Per the above, we seek to impact with this solution the lives of young people between 14 and 30 years of age who are part of the programs of attention and restoration of rights located in Medellín, the metropolitan area of the Aburrá Valley, and the Near East, or who have graduated from them; providing them with tools for the development of their sexual autonomy, which allows them to decide freely, autonomously and informedly about their body and sexuality, and thus, prevent new affectations in their lives. We are sure that this impact will also reach their support networks, the institutions where they live and with which we maintain an alliance, and the families they have formed because social and community reality also transforms when young people are transformed. 

So far, we have the participation of 150 young people from the Hogares Claret Foundation (Hogares La Libertad and Miraflores), the Corporación Asperla (Hogar Casa Vida 2), the Corporación Social PAN and Aldeas infantiles SOS. However, the initiative will be open to the participation of young people from other households, which is considered a positive step forward and expansion for the project. 

The GIDI Group has established itself as an intergenerational meeting space where adults, young people, and adolescents find a space conducive to participation and creating strategies for transforming reality. The above is proven that each of the topics worked on since 2015 has been selected in a participatory manner, taking into account the pressing needs of children and young people, especially those who have been victims of some violation of rights. In addition, utilizing theater plays and the arts has facilitated dialogue and intergenerational construction.

With more than eight years of experience, this methodological model has, within its principles, utilized the gender approach and placed sexual diversities in a place of importance.

In addition, this proposal's executing team is part of the National Faculty of Public Health of the University of Antioquia health management and policies group. Since 2009, she has participated in and led the process of formulation, evaluation, and reformulation of the childhood and adolescence policy of Medellín and has also been concentrating her academic action on the process of restoring the rights of children and adolescents in Medellín, developing research processes around problems and topics such as commercial sexual exploitation,  the right to participation, the Colombian social outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic. The socialization processes for the purpose of social appropriation of knowledge that have been carried out include methodological primers, scientific articles, refresher courses, diplomas for young people, and audiovisual dissemination.   

150 people

The innovative nature of this solution lies in the direct involvement of young people who have been victims of rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, and who are, therefore, part of the protection system of the Colombian State. The project involves young women as co-builders and protagonists of the process. This space is consolidated as a platform for training, dissemination, and participatory construction on sexual and reproductive rights for a population that has been made invisible in multiple ways. Either through the absence of regional policies, programs, and spaces targeted explicitly for them or through the training that rights restoration institutions provide in promoting sexual and reproductive rights.

The leading role of young people is at the same time innovative in that it allows them to know the realities of the target population and to articulate their proposals, perceptions, and opinions on sexual and reproductive education. By complementing a model of construction of solutions that leaves young people out of decision-making, understanding that they are subjects whose proposals are valuable and who know their needs better than anyone else, thus betting on generating intergenerational solution alternatives that involve adolescents and adults by themselves. This is mainstreamed by a differential approach in which diverse sexual and gender identities are recognized and enhanced.

Short-term

• Consolidate a participatory action research process for promoting sexual and reproductive rights with the participation of 100 adolescents and young people with life stories of rights violations.
• Generate proposals for the promotion of sexual and reproductive rights and the reduction of sexual violence in adolescents and young women with life histories of rights violations in Medellín - Colombia.
• Impact the lives of 100 adolescents and young people by strengthening their capacities to promote and demand sexual and reproductive rights.

In the long term:

• The methodological model implemented as a reference at the departmental and national level for the promotion of the rights of young people in contexts of state protection is consolidated
• The active participation of young people in the project is maintained and strengthened, ensuring that they have a role in decision-making and policy-making related to sexual and reproductive rights in the community.
• Expand the participatory art-based approach to other communities and regions of Colombia, with an increase in the dissemination of the project as a successful strategy at the regional and national levels..

How These Goals Will Be Achieved

• Workshops and participatory activities mediated by art will be carried out to build knowledge about sexual and reproductive rights among adolescents and young people.
• Intergenerational collaboration will be encouraged in creating proposals that reflect the experiences and perspectives of the community involved.
• Follow-up and support programs will be established for young women to ensure they remain agents of change in the long term.
• Lessons learned and best practices from the project will be shared with other communities and organizations, and strategic alliances for expansion will be sought.
• Collaborate with government institutions and civil society organizations to address policies and systems that perpetuate sexual violence and rights violations. 

By generating a safe space for training in which concerns, opinions, and experiences around sexual and reproductive rights are treated with the importance they deserve, free of biases, taboos, and discrimination. Within this, young people who have been victims of sexual violence or are at risk build spaces through art, discussion, and reflection to prevent all types of sexual violence. All of the above would impact the prevention of sexual violence by empowering the sexual and reproductive rights of young women and adolescent men.

The Intergenerational group of participatory action research was born in the heart of the University of Antioquia, specifically the National Faculty of Public Health, as a research project dedicated to work in search of the promotion of rights and the fight against the repetition of violations of children, adolescents and young people who are or were in processes of restoration of rights of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare -ICBF-. The operation has been financed thanks to public resources from the University of Antioquia, which has supported the process for 8 years.

The work team consists of:

• A full-time professor from the University of Antioquia
• A professor and PhD student in public health from the University of Antioquia
• A full-time contractor, health administrator, and mental health master's degree student.
• A full-time contractor sociologist
• A research assistant undergoing social sciences coursework
• A full-time psychology professional
• A full-time psychology intern Three part-time undergraduate students that serve as researchers

Since 2015, the GIDI group has been searching for strategies that contribute to improving the conditions experienced by young people who belong or belong to the administrative process of restoration of rights. Over the years, we have researched commercial sexual exploitation, the right to participation, the COVID-19 pandemic, the social outbreak, and the life of young people after the release of the protection measure. The project around sexual and reproductive rights would be one more stage that would come to nourish this research process,  reflection, and creation. 

The research group was created with the desire to welcome and respect diversity from multiple angles: age, sex, ethnicity, religion, gender, and academic background, among others. Respect for difference and recognition of its significant contribution to the project and life itself, to meet others who are always different from me, constitutes a fundamental pillar in the participatory methodology we have maintained over the years. 

In addition, we are committed to horizontal treatment that contributes to equity. We are all researchers in the Intergenerational Research Group; our voices, ideas, and experiences are heard and welcomed. The fundamental idea is that each and every one of the participants can contribute from what we are and with whom we have lived. We are convinced that there is no knowledge more important than another and that there is nothing more valuable than generating and implementing comprehensive proposals elaborated from the collective in the process of knowledge construction and the transformation of realities.  

The business model is based on a social strategy, with a value proposition based on the implementation of programs that provide tools to children, adolescents, and young participants to ensure that they have a dignified quality of life in the future and that they contribute to society with positive and purposeful elements in favor of the construction of society. The organization is based on a non-profit model. For this, the interested parties in the programs offered give in exchange for the idea or model offered, donations, contributions, or participation in some of the programs with help, support, and human capital through the delivery of intellectual knowledge or tangible goods that contribute to the development of the model.  

To be financially sustainable, the plan is made up of several strategies; 1. Continue with our non-profit fundamental model base on grant applications, donations, and seeking external funding sources where we demostrate value of our research-based projects sponsored academically by the University of Antioquia; 2. Continue providing accountability to funders, 3. Promoting community engagement and leadership as well as research promising practices for meeting the community needs challenges while achieving financially sustainability.