‘We Women Warriors’ Challenges the Way We Think about Colombia’s Civil War

A new documentary features three indigenous women who organize--and sometimes win--against the Colombia's bloody civil war.

By Aura Bogado Aug 14, 2012

Colombia’s civil war will soon enter its fiftieth year. The media narrative about the bloody conflict, which has claimed a 250,000 lives and displaced millions of people is often focused on the armed insurgents, the Colombian military, and right-wing paramilitary squads–the latter of which have been largely demobilized. This frame leaves little room to consider those people who make an effort to resist the violence that’s become an everyday phenomenon for rural people in Colombia. It also fails to remind us that, aside from drug cartels, the war is fueled by the US. Now, a new independent documentary challenges the way we think about the conflict.

"We Women Warriors" features three indigenous women in northern and southern Colombia who develop courageous strategies against violence–after a long organizing effort, for example, one woman leads a group to completely dismantle a set of military barracks. Indigenous groups that take no side in the conflict have become targets; since men are often the ones killed by military or guerrilla troops, more women are taking leadership roles.