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First modification: 09/03/2026 - 21:11

With the arrival of Abelardo de la Espriella to the Presidency of Colombia, his “Patria Milagro” project proposes a shift in policies related to human rights and so-called traditional values. One of the flags of his Government is the so-called “cultural war”, which is already generating controversy due to its impact on women's rights, sexual diversity and other equality policies. What rights are at stake and how far can this political turn go? We analyze it in this episode of Ellas Hoy.

The far-right government of Colombia declared a "cultural war" on the so-called "gender ideology." In the words of President Abelardo de la Espriella, it seeks to “recover the value of the family, merit, discipline, respect for the law, love for the country, belief in God and individual responsibility.”

In its vision of a "Miracle Homeland", strategic meetings have taken place in the National Planning Department to advance a series of initiatives that would potentially imply a setback in acquired rights.

A graphic was recently leaked in the media that makes explicit a "pro-life stance" with the intention of reversing, among other things, the constitutional decisions that decriminalized free and safe abortion in Colombia up to the 24th week of gestation (Sentence C-055 of 2022). It also proposes reviving the prohibition of adoption for same-sex couples, all under the argument of protecting the traditional family made up of father, mother and children, under religious values.

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What is "gender ideology"?

The spheres of defense of human rights question the legitimacy of talking about "gender ideology", since the expression was born in the 90s as a political strategy to oppose two United Nations Conferences that were key to laying the foundations for the fight against inequality and discrimination:

The International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994): Coined by consensus the concept of gender as a fundamental category to identify and combat historical inequalities against women and sexual diversity.

The Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995): Approved the 'Beijing Platform for Action', adopted by consensus by 189 countries and recognized to this day as the global framework to advance gender equality.

It was the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—who would later become Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013)—who, in the interview book The Salt of the Earth (1997), stated that the concept of gender "dissimulates an insurrection against the limits that man carries within himself as a biological being."

This notion was reinforced during his pontificate in the 2000s to condemn feminist currents and oppose advances in sexual and reproductive rights, such as comprehensive sexuality education, family planning and voluntary termination of pregnancy. Likewise, he extended his questions to the rights of socially diverse sectors and LGBTIQ+ citizens, including equal marriage and the right to adoption.

What began as a conceptual category in conservative sectors of the Catholic Church has transformed into an ideological front adopted by far-right movements globally. These sectors promote natalist agendas and promote the return of women to biological and unpaid care roles, distancing them from public decision-making spaces.

An example of this dynamic is the women's conference organized by Turning Point in the United States, led by ultraconservative activist Erika Kirk, wife of the late Charlie Kirk. The activist has supported initiatives aimed at limiting women's right to vote in favor of a family suffrage model, under a narrative that she describes as "biblical" and not political.

The ICBF eliminated the word "girl" from its institutional language

In the last month, one of the most controversial episodes in Colombia involved the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), an entity in charge of the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents in the country.

The newly appointed director, María Carolina Restrepo Cañavera, ordered the removal of the word "girl" from the institutional language to replace it in a general way with the term "childhood."

The Ombudsman's Office requested to clarify the scope of the measure, arguing that the discussion transcends an exclusively grammatical or stylistic issue, since the use of the neuter can make girls invisible as a historically discriminated group and differentially exposed to different gender violence.

Antonia Gómez, founder of the 'Resistencia Chiquita' collective, was also a victim of this invisibilization, whose institutional message written with minors was covered with paint on a mural at the ICBF headquarters by order of the management, arguing an alleged "instrumentalization of childhood."

"A child, what is he going to know about the message that is going to come out, so-called 'little resistance'? What is that?" said the official, not knowing the origin of the movement created in 2016 as a result of the femicide of the girl Yuliana Samboní to promote, through art, the prevention of abuse and sexual violence against children and adolescents in Colombia.

In an interview with France 24, Antonia Gómez explained that in 2023 the collective participated in an event within the framework of the International Day of the Girl and that the youngest member (8 years old at the time) wrote the phrase "Resistencia Chiquita was here", a message that was removed on August 18, 2026.

After the dissemination of the video in which the Director related the initiative to partisan activism, a set of reactions was unleashed on social networks that led to unfounded accusations against the founder. Currently, Gómez claims to be a victim of profiling and threats:

"It is a very harmful profile because Resistencia Chiquita has no partisan affiliation. We do not support political sectors on the left or right; our only objective is the defense of the rights of girls and adolescents."

The Colombian Ministry of Education and the confessional agenda in the classrooms

Minister Vivian Morales, whose resignation for personal reasons was announced on September 2, promoted guidelines framed in the "Milagro Homeland" agenda for three weeks, stating that she would combat "gender ideology" in schools and proposing to "bring out Marx and invite God" to the classrooms, despite the fact that the 1991 Constitution defines Colombia as a secular and pluralist State.

It was not the first time that the lawyer and former prosecutor caused controversy regarding children's rights. In 2016, he participated in the dissemination of false information about the alleged distribution of "pornographic booklets" in educational institutions, a controversy that arose after the review of coexistence manuals ordered by the Constitutional Court following the suicide of teenager Sergio Urrego, a victim of school bullying due to his sexual orientation (homophobic bullying).

It was later verified that the images disclosed on networks did not belong to the documents of the Ministry of National Education, but rather corresponded to fragments of the Belgian comic In bed with David & Jonathan.

In 2026, Morales reopened the debate by announcing revisions to national curricula and suggesting handing over the concession of public schools to religious organizations to avoid "indoctrination." Likewise, he publicly celebrated the possibility of reversing the constitutional jurisprudence on homoparental adoption.

After Morales' resignation, President Abelardo de la Espriella appointed Ilva Myriam Hoyos, a jurist and former deputy attorney general, also recognized for her opposition to the sexual and gender diversities rights agenda, to the Education portfolio.

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