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Womankind
When a peace deal with Colombian militant group
FARC ended decades of bitter conflict, it kick-started
an unexpected baby boom among former female fightersDuring 53 years of guerrilla
warfare, the foot soldiers of the
Marxist-Leninist militant group
FARC (The Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia) lived a harsh
life in the jungle, where one of the
strict rules was that fighters were
forbidden from having children.
But with the signing of a historic
ceasefire in 2016, there has been a
baby boom, with hundreds of new
families created, many living in the
demobilisation camps set up to help
them transition into everyday life.
Yorladis is one of hundreds of
pregnant former soldiers. She is
expecting for the sixth time – the other
five pregnancies during her years with
FARC were all terminated; the last one
when she was six months pregnant.
‘I wanted to keep the baby, so whenever
the commander came by, I would wear
loose clothes. But one day, he turned up
unannounced and sent me to the sick
bay [for an abortion]. I had to give birth
as if it were a full-term pregnancy, and
the baby was big and fully shaped.
I dug a hole next to my tent and buried
him, then wept for hours.’
At the height of FARC’s struggle
against the landowners and the statefor more rights and control over land
ownership, FARC rebels boasted an
estimated 20,000 active fighters, with
40 per cent of them female. Women
were ordered to put war before their
children, leaving babies with relatives,
or, as many claim, undergoing forced
abortions – a charge FARC has
continued to deny.
Photographer Catalina Martin-
Chico visited the camps where former
fighters are living as they wait to
return to society, and discovered they
are now fully formed villages. ‘They
told me so many tough stories of what
they had to go through as women,’
says Martin-Chico. ‘I asked them,
“Aren’t you resentful?” They said,
“No, those were the rules.”’
Many young mothers and new
families have left the camps to live
with relatives, while others have
settled in rural areas and become
farmers. Martin-Chico forged close
bonds with many of them and has
pictured several families in their new
lives. While the political climate is still
volatile in Colombia, perhaps this new
generation of babies is testament that
some people have started to cautiously
believe in their country’s rebirth.COLOMBIA’S
REBIRTH
Family ties: Jairo, Dayana
and their daughter Andree
Nicole, with Jairo’s sister,
Liliana, at his farm, where
the couple moved to after
they left a transition camp.
Dayana was a FARC nurse,
and they met while Jairo
was in hospital recovering
from battle wounds.
Dayana was 15 when she
joined up, leaving behind a
four-month-old baby, who
she only saw again 17 years
later. The farm was Jairo’s
childhood home before he
enlisted aged 11
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CATALINA MARTIN-CHICO/PANOS PICTURES