Colombia Youth Violence Assessment: Drivers and Opportunities for Change

The country experienced its highest homicide rate in 1990, with 81.4 per 100,000 persons. Cities such as Medellín and Cali had even higher rates, with Medellín reaching 245-400 per 100,000 persons in the early 1990s and Cali reaching 100 per 100,000 persons in 2000. Although homicide rates began to decrease in 2000, reaching a national average of 25.4 per 100,000 persons in 2018, young people in Colombia continue to face multiple risk factors for violence due to entrenched poverty, geosocial isolation, lack of educational and employment opportunities, and the normalization of violence within their families and communities. The social-ecological model of risk and protective factors identifies individual, family, community, and societal factors that contribute to youth violence. In Colombia, these factors include exposure to violence in the home, lack of parental supervision, and involvement in gangs. Community-level factors, such as poverty and lack of access to education and employment opportunities, also contribute to the risk of youth violence. Additionally, societal factors, such as the normalization of violence and the presence of armed groups, exacerbate the problem. Risk and protective factors for youth violence vary across different cities in Colombia. In Buenaventura, Cali, and Caucasia, the most common risk factors include exposure to violence in the home, lack of parental supervision, and involvement in gangs. In contrast, protective factors such as strong family relationships and access to education and employment opportunities are less common in these cities. The study found that youth in these cities experience overlapping forms of violence, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The study also identified several national assets that can be leveraged to prevent youth violence in Colombia. These include the National Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence, the Ministry of Justice and Law, and the Colombian National Police. Additionally, several organizations and programs are working to prevent youth violence, including the Colombian Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and the Save the Children organization. Despite these efforts, several gaps in policy, practice, and programs remain. These include a lack of coordination and transparency in data, monitoring, and evaluation systems, as well as inadequate support for families of youth at risk for violence in the home. Furthermore, existing programs and policies often fail to engage youth as part of the violence prevention solution, and quality-of-life conditions in many communities remain poor. Based on the findings of this study, several recommendations are made to address the drivers and opportunities for change in youth violence in Colombia. These include increasing support for families of youth at risk for violence in the home, engaging youth as part of the violence prevention solution, improving quality-of-life conditions, increasing support for tertiary prevention programs, and improving coordination and transparency of data, monitoring, and evaluation systems.