Emphasizing sexual violence, according to the National Center for Historical Memory (CNMH) and within the conclusions of the research The War Inscribed in the Body: National Report on Sexual Violence in the Armed Conflict, carried out by mandate of Law 1719 of 2014, an armed actor does not admit that he has raped and it’s easier for him to admit other crimes:

“Sexual violence is perhaps the most forgotten and silenced violence among the repertoires of violence used by armed actors. No armed actor frankly admits to having raped, harassed, or forcibly prostituted a victim. It’s much easier to confess to dispossession, forced displacement and even murder, but sexual violence is dominated by a profound moral sense that makes it a horrendous crime, which denotes not the inhumanity of the victims, but that of the perpetrators.”

Nor is it easy for us to admit that we have been victims of sexual violence, however, there are voices of courageous living women who have survived the war and even risking their lives, have made the decision to speak out and tell their truth. Through them and so that the world knows these stories, their voices are exposed, strategically addressed from the sphere of artistic practices

About the artist Juanita Díaz Torres

Visual Artist specialized in Plastic Expression by Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, TEDx Speaker, certified Life Management Coach, Master in Art Markets and Related Business Management by Universidad Nebrija, Juanita has been recognized as one of the 50 Transformational Leaders of Bogotá, and part of the “16 inspiring stories of women in Colombia” by the United Population Fund of UN WOMEN. She has participated in television debates and in the Council of Bogotá; in turn, she has been interviewed for various international and national media such as: EL PAÍS, VICE Magazine, Caracol Radio, RCN Television, among the most relevant.

In 2011, she experienced sexual abuse by a fellow student at her university campus, a fact that prompted her to work on herself at a personal, artistic, social and professional level. From this, her practice in the visual arts began in an intimate way through expressions different from the verbal: painting, marble sculpture, engraving, drawing and piano composition, until taking it to collective action as a transformative strategy at a social level. In 2015, she composed a song entitled DESPEGAS -TAKE OFF- with which she started a collective action every Thursday in front of the location where the act of sexual violence took place, involving different fields and areas such as teachers, lawyers, among others, initiating a work with communities and populations of the capital. This is how she founded the organization “P of Persistance” (I de Insistencia) which provided professional support to victims of sexual violence within and outside the framework of the Colombian armed conflict, as well as preventive educational strategies.

Juanita has exhibited her work in Madrid-Spain, Colombia and Mexico. She has been living in Madrid for four years, exploring once again her artistic endeavours.