Colombian women, LGBT victims stand to get equal 'peace rights'
Source: Yahoo!7 News / AFP
Havana (AFP) - If Colombia signs its landmark peace deal to end a half century of civil war, the pact will offer equal social rights for women and LGBT victims, a draft inked Sunday in Havana showed.
Under the agreement in principle, gender discrimination is included in the final peace deal. The partial draft was presented by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the top UN envoy for sex abuse in conflict, Zainab Bangura.
The Colombian government and FARC rebels have agreed to create conditions "for women and people in sexual minority groups, to achieve equal access to the benefits of living in a country that is not at war," a joint statement said.
Under terms of the peace deal, which would end Latin America's last civil war, women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities (LGBT) are to be encouraged to take part in politics, may receive land to farm, or receive compensation to stop growing drug crops, among other benefits.
Under the deal, perpetrators of sex crimes against women are not eligible for amnesty, according to Maria Paulina Riveros, the government's envoy on gender issues at the Havana-hosted peace talks.
Read more: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/32140267/colombian-women-lgbt-victims-stand-to-get-equal-peace-rights/#page1
Note: 5th paragraph added for context.
