Communities that support: Collective responses to sexual violence against children and adolescents in Latin America

On Bolivia’s National Day of Solidarity with Victims of Sexual Assault and Against Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, observed on 9 August, four Equality Now partner organisations across Latin America share what it means to work for justice, prevention and reparation.

9 August has its origins in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2006, when Brisa de Angulo, then a teenage survivor of sexual violence, organised a march to express solidarity with other survivors, remind them that they were not alone, and demand action from the authorities. That same year, the date was officially recognised in Cochabamba, and in 2007 it was established by law as a national commemoration in Bolivia.

Since then, organisations such as the Breeze of Hope Foundation (Fundación una Brisa de Esperanza, FUBE), together with survivors and activists, have helped expand this initiative into a regional and international campaign promoting mobilisation, prevention, access to justice and reparation.

Equality Now works with partner organisations across Latin America and the Caribbean to end sexual violence and harmful practices, and to tackle discriminatory laws. Following the publication of our 2021 report Failure to Protect: How Discriminatory Sexual Violence Laws and Practices Harm Women, Girls and Adolescents in the Americas, we joined forces with a growing number of organisations across Latin America to establish the Regional Access to Justice Network. The Network aims to reform sexual violence laws and improve their implementation in order to ensure access to justice for survivors.
Addressing sexual violence against children and adolescents requires laws and public policies, but it also requires something more: transforming the narratives surrounding violence, reporting, survivors’ credibility and institutional responsibility. Shifting these narratives from suspicion and silence towards solidarity and justice is part of the work. Across the region, organisations are making this possible by supporting survivors, challenging harmful narratives and building collective responses.

For this occasion, we have brought together four partner voices from Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia. Although they work in very different contexts, they share one conviction: no child or adolescent should have to face these forms of violence alone.

Paraguay – Alejandra Sosa, BECA

Since 2024, the Educational and Community Support Foundation (BECA), together with partner organisations, has commemorated 9 August in Paraguay to urge both civil society and the State to recognise the significant gap in public policies providing reparation for survivors. In 2024 and 2025, they launched the campaign What happens after a report is made? (in Spanish: ¿Qué sucede luego de la denuncia?), highlighting the lack of protection services available to children and adolescents experiencing sexual violence. This year, they also created spaces for dialogue and emotional support for survivors and their families.

Paraguay records nine reports of child sexual abuse every day. In this context, solidarity begins by recognising the courage it takes to break the silence and by supporting survivors without revictimising them, allowing each person the time they need. “Accessing justice and reparation requires a strong community to support you,” says Alejandra Sosa.

The change BECA is working towards follows two paths: strengthening public reparation policies, which are currently limited to an emerging programme run by the Ministry of Children and Adolescents that requires greater political commitment, and safeguarding Comprehensive Sexuality Education based on gender equality and human rights. Their experience demonstrates that mobilisation can bring about change.

Argentina – Julieta Santillán Juri, ANDHES

ANDHES (Lawyers of Northwest Argentina for Human Rights and Social Studies) works from a locally grounded perspective in north-west Argentina, where economic, territorial, gender and cultural inequalities shape people’s real opportunities to access justice. In 2023, together with Equality Now, the organisation launched the Alliance Against Sexual Violence in the province of Tucumán.

A significant part of its work involves challenging narratives that revictimise survivors. One example is its opposition to the use of the so-called Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and other pseudoscientific concepts as tools of institutional violence. “These theories are used to dismiss reports of child sexual abuse, undermine survivors’ testimony and persecute protective mothers under the label of ‘false reporting’, reversing the roles of victim and perpetrator,” explains Julieta Santillán Juri.

ANDHES therefore advocates for the explicit prohibition of these theories in judicial protocols and for sustained public funding for Comprehensive Sexuality Education as a State policy, enabling children and adolescents to recognise violence and seek help. 

Uruguay – Victoria Marichal, Proyecto Ikove

Proyecto Ikove approaches its work through a human rights, gender-responsive and trauma-informed perspective, placing survivors’ voices at the centre of everything it does. The organisation creates spaces where survivors can meet one another, advocates for legislative and institutional reform, and trains professionals in prevention, access to justice and comprehensive reparation.

Victoria Marichal describes solidarity as active, respectful and trauma-informed listening: believing survivors, avoiding judgement, and understanding how trauma affects the ways people remember and recount their experiences. The change they seek is the creation of a genuinely trauma-informed system with a non-adult-centric gender perspective, supported by mandatory training for professionals working in healthcare, education, child protection and justice. Without these changes, she warns, many interventions continue to revictimise survivors and push them further away from justice and reparation.

“Reparation begins when responses stop asking why a survivor acted in a certain way and start asking what they need to regain their safety, dignity and rights,” says Victoria. Her hope is renewed by seeing more and more survivors transform silence into collective action.

Colombia – Laura Victoria, Colectiva Las Comadres

In Colombia, Colectiva Las Comadres supports community initiatives where children and adolescents can feel safe, heard and recognised. Its work is rooted in art, culture and community care networks that strengthen protective environments for children.

For Laura Victoria, solidarity with survivors can be summed up in one simple action: “believe them, support them without judgement, and commit to ensuring they never have to face this violence alone.”

While they find hope in communities that are increasingly speaking openly about sexual violence, breaking the silence and organising to protect their children and adolescents, they also call for institutions that listen with sensitivity, respond swiftly and place survivors’ wellbeing at the centre of their actions.

Solidarity in action

The voices from Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia are just a few examples of the many organisations across the region demonstrating that in the face of sexual violence, protection and reparation are always collective responsibilities. From legal support to community arts initiatives, from legislative advocacy to safe spaces for emotional support, these organisations demonstrate that reparation is built collectively and that breaking the silence requires strong networks of care.

This day reminds us that solidarity is demonstrated through action: listening without revictimising, believing survivors, and transforming institutions so they respond to what children and adolescents truly need. Across the region, this work is already under way.

Getting involved is also possible within your own community: learning about the organisations that support survivors, sharing their campaigns, and standing alongside their initiatives are practical ways to help sustain this movement. At Equality Now, we will continue building alliances and working alongside organisations to secure a safer future, free from violence, for children and adolescents across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Join the conversation and support our work

Follow us on LinkedIn: Equality Now Latin America and the Caribbean to find out more about the work of our partner organisations, follow them on Instagram: FUBE, ANDHES, BECA, Proyecto Ikove, Colectiva Las Comadres

Learn more and access our guide, “Five Myths and Facts About Sexual Violence”.