Abstract
The 2012-2016 peace negotiations between President Santos and FARC rebels marked a historic milestone as the first Colombian peace process integrating gender considerations. However, influential right-wing leaders, evangelical pastors, and anti-gender activists viewed gender as a ‘dangerous ideology’ threatening traditional family roles, biological sex distinctions, and parental educational rights. This paper examines the internal strategies employed by the campaign against ‘gender ideology’ to permeate the 2016 peace plebiscite debate and undermine ratification of the agreement. Methods include archival research using documents from anti-gender activists and a prominent right-wing senator, plus 24 semi-structured interviews with ministers, senators, religious leaders, anti-gender activists, journalists, and women’s and LGBTI rights representatives. Findings reveal that the right-wing network created a three-part strategy. First, they took advantage of regulatory gaps in digital campaign oversight to orchestrate hybrid mobilization strategies combining offline and online tactics. Second, using a ‘cell system,’ evangelical pastors and anti-gender activists leveraged WhatsApp to disseminate disinformation through transnational networks spanning Latin America and extending to Europe and Africa. Finally, the campaign linked ‘gender ideology’ messaging with fake news about FARC’s alleged impunity, ‘Castro-Chavista’ regime fears, and the supposed ‘homosexualization’ of Colombian schools if the peace agreement passed. Colombia’s case illustrates how anti-gender campaigns go far beyond opposing gender equality; they actively work to reshape institutional power by adapting transnational strategies through institutional channels and harnessing WhatsApp’s opacity to challenge gender policies and peace. This case offers crucial insights into anti-gender mobilization dynamics and the weaponization of gender and disinformation to undermine democratic processes.
Presenters
Angela Maria Bohorquez OviedoPhD in Political Science and International Relations, University of Delaware, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Gender Ideology, Peace, Plebiscite, Media, Colombia
