According to the city council of Boyaca, Colombian police are looking into an acid attack committed against a human rights activist named Lilia Patricia Cardozo.
Cardozo is the director of Plataforma Feminista Boyacense (Boyacense Feminist Platform), a women’s rights NGO that aims to abolish gender violence, domestic abuse, and discrimination through rescuing victims from abusers.
On Monday, Cardozo was walking in a park when an unidentified assailant flung a toxic substance at her.
Cardozo, who is still being monitored by doctors, had injuries to the left side of her face, the NGO’s Facebook spokesman noted.
The San Rafael de Tunja University Hospital said the chemical substance thrown at Cardozo affected 4% of her body, including her face, and her chest.
Cardozo has been a target of death threats since 2022, which led the country’s National Protection Unit to approve a safety protocol to protect her last September.
But the Boyacense Feminist Platform has accused Tunja’s local authorities of leaving Cardozo exposed by activating the safety protocol too slowly.
Tunja’s Mayor, Alejandro Funeme, said the protocol was implemented late on February 14, due to the lack of funds.
Local police are investigating the incident and working to identify the attacker, who faces a charges of femicide.
Women and human rights defenders are particularly at risk in Colombia. In 2022, 614 cases of femicide were reported, according to Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office.
Since 2016, more than 500 human rights activists have been killed in the country, making it one of the deadliest countries for human rights defenders worldwide, according to Human Rights Watch.