Macro-Case 07 is one of the landmark investigations undertaken by Colombia’s Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (Special Jurisdiction for Peace – JEP), the transitional justice system established under the 2016 Peace Accord. The case investigates the forced recruitment and use of children during the armed conflict between 1971 and 2016. It is divided into two sub-cases: (1) crimes committed by the former FARC-EP; and (2) crimes committed by the public security forces. Although Macro-Case 07 covers crimes committed by both parties, investigations into those committed by the former FARC-EP have advanced furthest, and this analysis focuses on those findings to date.
This analysis, based on information shared by the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) in its recent newsletter, explains how the JEP’s investigation into the forced recruitment and use of children has exposed the systematic sexual and reproductive violence committed against girls and adolescents within the former FARC-EP. Its findings represent an important step towards recognising sexual and gender-based violence as a systematic pattern of abuse, with implications for the investigation of other Macro-Cases.
As part of its investigation, in JEP Court Order 005 of 2024, identified five patterns of “macro-criminality” committed by the former Secretariat of the FARC-EP, two of which relate to sexual and reproductive violence against children:
- A pattern of sexual violence against girls and boys recruited into the ranks of the former FARC-EP; and
- A pattern of reproductive violence through forced contraception and forced family planning against girls that had been recruited
In March 2026, regional-level investigations provided further evidence of the involvement of former senior FARC-EP commanders in these practices, demonstrating that sexual and reproductive violence was intrinsically linked to the organisation’s power structures, military control and hierarchical subordination.
The JEP identified 18,677 victims of forced recruitment by the FARC-EP between 1971 and 2016. Of these, 24% reported experiencing gender-based violence. To date, the JEP has documented 86 cases of forced contraception and 100 forced abortions affecting 67 girls in Macro-Case 07.
The investigations demonstrate that these crimes were not isolated incidents but formed part of a systematic pattern of control, subordination and discipline within the organisation. Most victims of forced recruitment identified in this case, suffered sexual abuse (55%). In Macro Case 07, to date, in the investigations into the former FARC-EP, of all the victims documented, 89 victims, between them, reported 127 instances of rape. 98% of these rapes were committed against them when they were children. In most cases, the perpetrators held positions of authority and exploited girls during periods of heightened vulnerability, particularly shortly after their forced recruitment or while they were being transferred between locations.
Some girls were subjected to sexual slavery and treated as property. Others were forced into so-called “forced unions”, stripped of their autonomy and forced to undertake domestic duties. Testimonies describe girls being isolated from other women in the ranks and treated as “caged animals”. Survivors also reported being forced to remain completely naked or dressed only in their underwear while groups of men taunted and humiliated them.
Although the FARC-EP’s internal regulations formally prohibited rape and prescribed sanctions for those responsible, the JEP found that, in practice, sexual violence became a widespread tool of control exercised with impunity. Rather than preventing or punishing these crimes, the organisation tolerated them as part of a broader cost-benefit logic aimed at maintaining cohesion and discipline within its ranks.
The CCJ highlights that the consequences of this violence continue to affect women survivors today, underlining the urgent need for comprehensive responses that recognise both the seriousness of these crimes and the differentiated impacts of sexual and reproductive violence.
The organisation also commends Macro-Case 07 for its thorough investigation and for recognising sexual and reproductive violence as a systematic pattern within the former FARC-EP. However, it warns that other macro-cases have yet to adequately investigate crimes of sexual violence. While Macro-Cases 01 and 02 have identified evidence of sexual violence linked to the former FARC-EP, the systematic nature of these abuses has not yet been fully recognised.
For information and analysis of other Macro-Cases, see:
Macro-Case 03 – Critical moment for the transitional justice process in Colombia