WOMEN IN THE PUBLIC SPACE OF THE COLOMBIAN (NOT-)EXILE: A REFLECTION ON THE WORK OF THE CEV IN EUROPE

Abstract

This text for debate originates in longitudinal ethnographic work carried out with Colombian migrants and refugees in Europe from the 1990s. Following several qualitative studies and experience participating in the work of the Truth Commission (CEV) abroad, it argues that exiled women have suffered a double invisibility, with consequences both internal and in terms of their public recognition. However, the role played by Colombian migrant and exiled women in Europe has been very important inside their communities and vis-à-vis the Colombian political context. The process of collecting testimonies and the truth of the victims of the conflict abroad completed by the CEV has represented a certain point of inflexion. At the institutional level, it has helped position the reality of exile in the Colombian political agenda, at the same time that it has generated new instances of collaboration within the transnational politics of Colombians abroad. Although such a process has reproduced traditional gender-based leadership and visibility patterns, it has also opened up new spaces that contribute to make more visible the condition and agency of Colombian exiled women.