Butterflies is based in Buenaventura, where roughly 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, and 20 percent in extreme poverty, making less than $2 U.S. per day, according to the UN. Testimonies from victims in the area show that rape—sometimes by more than one man—is the most common sexual crime women face. Reporting the crime can be futile, even dangerous: Testimonies also show that women are silenced out of fear that they will suffer repercussions, even be killed, if they report the rape. The threats may extend to the victim's family. In one testimony included in a new report, Buenaventura: Brutal Realities, a victim said: "...One night while we were asleep a member of an illegal armed group, 'a close friend' of my husband, raped me, later he threatened to kill my husband and my children. He returned several times and forced me to be with him and made death threats against my children..."
With the help of Butterflies, which was founded in 2010, victimized women can regain their footing. Take Luz Dary Santiesteban, who fled her home in 2004 after armed fighters threatened to rape her 10-year-old daughter and then, after Santiesteban begged them to spare her child, assaulted her instead. "They put a gun to my head as they raped me one by one. They took away my dignity. I couldn't fight back. I felt so impotent," she says in documentation provided by the UN. Santiesteban's husband left her after the attack, and fearful of more violence, she left the area. She returned to Buenaventura a year ago and joined Butterflies, whose members prompted her to finally report the rape. "Through the network, I've grown stronger and learned to value myself. It's given me the courage to speak out.... When I reported the crime, it was like taking out a cancer that had been consuming me." There's also Benedicia Benancia, a single mother of seven who fled her village in western Colombia amid gunfire. She struggled at first to provide for her family, but Butterflies gave her work helping other impoverished women gain access to rice and money—both much needed for survival—through a food-chain trading program. "I used to sleep on a dirt floor, but because of the [food] chain I've managed to build the house you see now," says Benancia. "I wouldn't have been able to save otherwise."
The three women accepting the UN award for Butterflies include members Gloria Amparo, Maritza Asprilla Cruz, and Mery Medina. Amparo is a human-rights activist who was forced to flee Bogota in 1993 after her life was threatened. She grew up in poverty herself, with an abusive father who would beat her mother. Of her work at Butterflies, Amparo says: "One of the things is to teach our daughters, our nieces, that they do not deserve abuse and submission and that they deserve a different way of life." Cruz, who leads many of the group's human rights workshops, currently lives in an impoverished area of Buenaventura, where gang violence if prevalent. She grew up witnessing her stepfather abuse her mother and, like Amparo, felt a strong calling to help other women—but it's not without risk. "We hold our meetings behind closed doors. No one from outside can attend, because we are in danger, so we have to care for ourselves," says Cruz. "There are neighborhoods that you can't cross. Most days I change my movements in and out of the neighborhoods for my own protection." Medina's work is focused primarily on guiding women through the process of seeking justice for crimes committed against them, as well as obtaining medical care when needed. "We go with women and help them every step of the way so they can report crimes to officials," she says. "A few years ago no one reported any crimes. We hid in fear. But now we're gradually speaking out."
In a statement released by the UN, High Commissioner for Refugees Ant??nio Guterres said, "These women are doing extraordinary work in the most challenging of contexts.... Each day they seek to heal the wounds of the women and children of Buenaventura and in doing so put their own lives at risk. Their bravery goes beyond words."
