Corporación Sisma Mujer

About the Organization Contact and Service Areas Successes and Impact Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security Survivor Leadership Understanding Economic Harm in Context

About the Organization

Country

Colombia

Number of survivors served in a year

500+

Languages

Spanish

Groups most commonly served

Ethnic, religious, or other minorities Indigenous peoples, communities, or nations Refugees, migrants, or internally displaced persons Rural communities Women Youth, children, or adolescents

Type of organization

Nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO)

Program model(s)

Holistic crisis response Rights-based economic justice Survivor-centered income generation Systemic change through strategic partnerships Transforming social norms through community-building

Contact and Service Areas

Email

direccion@sismamujer.org

Address

Calle 40 # 24 – 33 – Barrio La Soledad, Bogotá, Colombia

Service Area(s)

Colombia (national, with a focus on rural and urban communities affected by the armed conflict)

Successes and Impact

“In every place we work, we make sure to create circles of women who support each other, even after the project ends.”¹

Corporación Sisma Mujer reshapes the economic realities of IPV survivors in profound and sustainable ways. They have strengthened communities and equipped women with concrete tools to lead change and regain their autonomy. Sisma Mujer’s comprehensive approach recognizes that financial independence and liberation from cycles of violence are deeply interconnected.

Driving historic legislative changes to address gender-based violence and economic justice

Alongside allied organizations, Sisma Mujer led the enactment of a pioneering law in 2008 that recognizes multiple forms of violence against women, including economic and patrimonial violence. This was a profound accomplishment: “We advocated for the passage of a law that protects women’s rights in general, and above all, the fundamental right to live a life free from violence.”² Notably, this legislation defined “patrimonial damage” as a form of violence that goes beyond the direct control of economic resources to include situations such as the withholding of child or spousal support payments.³

The organization’s strategic litigation work has established important legal precedents, including precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights⁴ in cases involving the risk of femicide. “A precautionary measure in favor of a woman at risk of femicide was secured by our organization. It is a very important jurisprudential milestone within the Inter-American system,” Sisma Mujer explains.

Additionally, they maintain ongoing dialogue with government institutions, sharing technical documentation on emerging patterns of violence to ensure that public policies respond to the real economic needs of survivors.

Transforming lives through sustainable income-generating projects

Sisma Mujer combines training, psychosocial support, and entrepreneurial assistance when working with survivors. The training not only focuses on learning a trade but also on supporting survivors in recognizing the value of their work and prioritizing their well-being. Sisma Mujer’s innovative approach of providing complete infrastructure for survivors’ income-generating projects has demonstrated tangible results in building real economic autonomy. Survivor participants receive everything they need to build and operate a small business—from materials and labor for building animal-raising sheds to specialized equipment and tools—ensuring that they can generate income immediately.

Thanks to this approach, projects have continued to operate years after the initial intervention. Sisma Mujer keeps tabs on these initiatives from as far back as 2020, demonstrating this model’s sustainability.

Creating communities of feminist survivors and allies who influence other institutions

Sisma Mujer’s programs don’t just generate income. They also profoundly shift the way women relate to their autonomy and decision-making power. Through exchanges of experiences among different groups—human rights defenders, women from feminized economic sectors (paid and unpaid domestic work, retail, health and care, hospitality and tourism), and survivors of domestic violence—participants build strong networks of mutual support that endure beyond formal programs.

This engagement and networking extends the organization’s influence beyond individual participants. Former collaborators of Sisma Mujer now work in public institutions, where they replicate feminist approaches and drive systemic change from within the state apparatus. “Many of the women who have been part of the organization go on to work in government institutions, where they teach how the approach and support [to survivors] should be done,” the organization remarks.

These achievements reflect not only the personal advancement of participating women but also a transformation toward more just and equitable systems. Through every step, Sisma Mujer contributes to building a future with greater hope, resilience, and autonomy for all.

Flexibility during crises

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the first sectors to be hit were those primarily staffed by women, such as hotels, domestic work, and nursing. As the crisis unfolded, Sisma Mujer quickly shifted their strategy. Instead of offering temporary shelters, they responded to what survivors actually asked for: food security for themselves and their families while maintaining community connections. “It was very important that they could count on us—a single call, a single message. That [connection], in terms of [helping] women recognize and reaffirm their autonomy, is very important,” the organization adds.

Innovative Solutions for IPV Survivors’ Economic Security

“At Sisma, we have a somewhat holistic view of women’s economic autonomy . . . where we understand economic autonomy not only as women’s ability to generate and manage their resources, but also as their ability to make free decisions in their lives generally and to live a life free from violence.”

About the Program

Sisma Mujer’s comprehensive model, Strengthening Economic Autonomy with a Feminist Approach, goes far beyond traditional entrepreneurship, recognizing that economic violence and financial dependence are structural factors that keep survivors in cycles of violence. Their approach addresses both immediate needs and the deeper changes necessary for long-term autonomy, emphasizing creativity, flexibility, and being grounded in survivors’ lived realities. Their philosophy is simple yet elegant: listen to survivors’ needs, respect their knowledge, and adapt interventions to their specific contexts.

On a practical level, the program combines three key elements: specialized psycho-legal support that includes free legal representation, training in women’s human rights, economic autonomy, and redistribution of caregiving responsibilities, and support for income-generating projects by providing the specific tools and materials needed to launch those projects. This comprehensive methodology ensures that participants earn income while strengthening their confidence to make informed decisions in all areas of their lives.

Program Development and Key Strategies

Sisma Mujer employs several fundamental strategies that distinguish their approach and ensure the sustained success of their programs:

Dialogue-based and community-centered methodology that prioritizes survivors’ agency
Comprehensive approach to redistributing caregiving responsibilities
Strategic provision of materials and resources

Dialogue-based and community-centered methodology that prioritizes survivors’ agency

Co-creation of entrepreneurial initiatives

Sisma Mujer’s approach recognizes women survivors as protagonists of their own journeys. The entire design and implementation process for developing small businesses unfolds through constant consultation with participants: “We start from a highly collaborative process with them, especially regarding materials and resources [for their projects]. We work hand in hand with them, as they are the experts on their income-generating projects and their local contexts.”

This strategy includes participatory workshops where women analyze labor costs, identify market opportunities, and develop customized work plans. The process also incorporates critical reflections on gender stereotypes, violence, and structural barriers, equipping survivors with tools to identify and overcome future obstacles, as well as to understand their rights and how to claim them. This approach enables each participant to lead their own initiative, ensuring that the project is aligned with their needs and aspirations.

Peer exchanges to strengthen support networks

The organization facilitates exchange spaces among different groups of women across all ages—human rights defenders, workers in feminized sectors, and survivors of domestic violence—where they share strategies, challenges, and achievements. These gatherings strengthen collective capacity and create networks of solidarity that transcend individual programs.

Sisma Mujer explains: “We have also held spaces for exchanging experiences among different groups of women . . . [where they] can talk about their achievements, the challenges, and how this type of support could be improved. [These exchanges help us] recognize what’s working about the process, which we always strive to improve, while also advocating for economic autonomy from a feminist perspective.”

Comprehensive approach to redistributing caregiving responsibilities

Sisma Mujer knows that to achieve economic autonomy, women must be able to reduce the burdens of caregiving. Otherwise, traditional entrepreneurship approaches won’t work. “It doesn’t make any sense to give them another project that will take even more of their time when their days already consist of double shifts, even triple shifts. Our goal is to make [their workload] more manageable.”

The organization works with survivors to find effective ways to balance their responsibilities while prioritizing their overall well-being, growth, and healing.

Strategic provision of materials and resources

Supplying materials for income-generating projects

To support survivors in developing their income-generating projects, Sisma Mujer supplies them with the necessary materials directly. The organization shares an example: “If a woman has experience raising chickens, what we do is purchase the animals, the feed, and all the necessary resources so that she can have her own [chicken] coop . . . We contract all the services she needs to keep her project running.”

Via this hands-on approach, the organization hires skilled labor, purchases construction materials, acquires animals or plants, and provides technical equipment and tools. Survivor-entrepreneurs maintain full control over project decisions and management but receive all the needed infrastructure to get their project off the ground.

Continuous technical support and personalized follow-up

Alongside providing materials and resources, the organization offers specific technical training and ongoing monitoring that can extend for years. Sisma Mujer understands that sustainability requires long-term support, especially considering the multiple structural barriers survivors face. “Even after we launched a few income-generating projects in 2020, for example, we always need ongoing follow-up on what we’re developing,” they note.

Survivor Leadership

Sisma Mujer is proud that the survivors they work with become mentors and community leaders in addition to benefiting from their programs. Through direct action, these survivors are bringing their demands to national and local institutions, advocating for more inclusive public policies aligned with their realities.

The organization emphasizes the importance of survivors’ direct participation in public dialogue: “We strive to support them and emphasize that they can engage directly with institutions so that they know about the programs, plans, and projects aimed at their well-being, and so that they can ask about [those programs] and advocate for access.”

This approach seeks to ensure that women not only receive support but also become active players in transforming their communities and creating a more just future for themselves and others.

Understanding Economic Harm in Context

Sisma Mujer’s programs are designed to respond to the specific realities of the Colombian context, where economic violence against women is intertwined with protracted armed conflict, deeply entrenched patriarchal norms, and systems of structural economic exclusion. Several key factors affect the experiences of IPV survivors in Colombia:

Armed conflict and forced displacement increase economic insecurity
Patriarchal norms limit survivors’ access to resources and autonomy
“Feminized” sectors of the economy feature precarious working conditions

Armed conflict and forced displacement increase economic insecurity

Displacement and structural discrimination prevent access to economic resources

The internal armed conflict, which has lasted more than five decades, has displaced 7.3 million people in Colombia,⁵ with a disproportionate impact on women. “Many of the women we support are internally displaced and face discrimination that prevents them from accessing formal employment,” Sisma Mujer points out.

Afro-Colombian communities comprise a disproportionately large share of the displaced population in Columbia and also face increased barriers to accessing financial resources and sustainable employment.⁶ Displacement and intersectional discrimination lead to these women experiencing significant economic hardship.

Loss of support networks and economic assets

Forced displacement disrupts livelihoods and breaks apart the family and community networks that traditionally provide some security through the informal economy. Displaced women often arrive in new communities without social capital or access to economic opportunities.

Patriarchal norms limit survivors’ access to resources and autonomy

Gender norms foster economic dependence

Deeply rooted patriarchal norms in Colombia often assign men the role of economic providers, while women assume caregiving duties in the home.⁷ Despite legal advances, such as the criminalization of femicide and the recognition of same-sex marriage, these norms limit women’s participation in formal employment, especially in rural areas. Economic dependence on partners continues to be a barrier for survivors and exacerbates the dynamics of economic violence.

Economic violence through withholding of financial support

Sisma Mujer has identified that economic violence often manifests in indirect ways, such as when a partner fails to provide financial support to contribute to household expenses. This form of economic violence forces survivors to use their own limited resources to cover basic family needs, without the support or contributions of their partners.

As Sisma Mujer explains, “there are also many cases where women suffer from intimate partner violence not because their partners or husbands prevent them from working, but rather . . . through [their partners’] failure to provide financial support.”

“Feminized” sectors of the economy feature precarious working conditions

Concentration in precarious and poorly paid jobs

In Colombia, women work predominantly in economic sectors such as hospitality, nursing, and paid domestic work, where working conditions are precarious and wages insufficient.⁸ These “feminized” sectors are often characterized by a lack of minimum labor guarantees, leaving women without access to health benefits, social security, or job stability. This job insecurity is heightened for migrant women, who face xenophobia and additional labor exploitation due to their immigration status.

In addition, women often have to work longer hours in these types of jobs to make ends meet. Sisma Mujer observes that “these are long workdays that take time away from their family and personal lives, with pay that does not reflect the many extended hours of care they provide.”

Double shifts: paid work plus unpaid care work

Gender norms force women into double and triple work shifts, making conditions in female-dominated sectors even more precarious. Sisma Mujer observes that women face social expectations to take full responsibility for family care work on top of their long hours of low-paid work outside the home. As the organization explains, “women not only work long hours in these sectors, but they also have to take on caregiving duties in their homes.”

This overload means that many of the women supported by Sisma Mujer sleep fewer than five hours a day due to the combination of work and domestic responsibilities. Extreme exhaustion affects their physical health—many develop stress-related illnesses—and limits their ability to develop their own income-generating projects or seek better job opportunities.

Notes

Direct quotes are slightly edited for style and flow.
“Ley 1257: Publicaciones [Law 1257: Publications],” Corporación Sisma Mujer, accessed September 10, 2025, https://sismamujer.org/ley-1257-publicaciones. “Patrimonial violence” is a legal concept often used in Latin American legal systems that refers to harm that targets a person’s property, assets, or other economic resources.
Colombia, Ley 1257 de 2008 [Law 1257 of 2008], Diario Oficial no. 47.193 (December 4, 2008), https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=34054.
For more information on precautionary measures, see: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “About Precautionary Measures,” Organization of American States, accessed October 16, 2025, https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/decisions/mc/about-precautionary.asp; Felipe González, “Urgent Measures in the Inter-American Human Rights System,” SUR International Journal on Human Rights 7, no. 13 (2010), 51–73, https://sur.conectas.org/en/urgent-measures-in-the-inter-american-human-rights-system/.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), “Country Profile: Colombia,” IDMC, 2025, https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/colombia.
Rebecca Bratspies, Territory is Everything: Afro-Colombian Communities, Human Rights and Illegal Land Grabs, New York, NY: Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 2020, https://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/hrlr-online/territory-is-everything-afro-colombian-communities-human-rights-and-illegal-land-grabs/#post-1520-footnote-77.
Signe Svallfors, “Gender Dynamics During the Colombian Armed Conflict”, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 31, no. 2, (2024): 298–320, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxad016.
OECD, Gender Equality in Colombia: Towards a Better Sharing of Paid and Unpaid Work, Gender Equality at Work, Paris: OECD Publishing, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1787/9f829821-en.