Photo: PBI-Colombia was present when the Bill for a Comprehensive Law for the Protection of the Rights of Women Searchers was filed on October 19, 2022.
The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has amplified this call from the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation on social media.
The image below says: “They have a commitment to the law on women searchers. Don’t forget it.”
The Foundation says:
“Urgent | Women Searchers
We want to raise awareness among institutions and the international community about the urgent need to implement Law 2364 of 2024, a law that protects the rights of Women Searchers and which has yet to be implemented.
While the law remains unimplemented, women searchers continue to be exposed to risks, violence, and institutional neglect.
The law exists. What is lacking is the will to implement it.
Share this message
Demand its implementation
Join the defense of the rights of Women Searchers
#Law 2364 Now #Women Searchers #Human Rights”
The Bill for a Comprehensive Law for the Protection of the Rights of Women Searchers was filed on October 19, 2022. Then Bill No. 242 was approved in the Senate on April 4, 2024. In an historic moment, Law 2364 of 2024, the Comprehensive Law was ratified by President Gustavo Petro on June 18, 2024.
Yanette Bautista, who had championed this Law, died on September 1, 2025.
The Foundation had hoped that on October 23, 2025, the National Day of Women Searchers, the signed document would be delivered to them, but it never arrived. Since then, more than 50 days have passed without a response.
This past weekend, El Espectador reported: “Andrea Torres, director of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, explained to Colombia+20 that the delay is due to changes in the ministerial portfolio. After the resignation of Eduardo Montealegre from the Ministry of Justice, the document has to be signed again with the new chief of staff. This has brought delays. …All the ministries – except for the Ministry of Agriculture – had already signed the decree, but the presidential sanction through the Ministry of the Interior was still pending. …’They say that they have changed their position a little now that they passed the decree again, when before they had already said yes to everything. We are very concerned about those challenges that they tell us are being imposed by the Ministry of the Interior and the Presidency,’ Torres said.”
That article continues: “In view of these difficulties, and with the aim that women receive ‘as a Christmas gift’ – says Andrea – the signed document, the organizations issued a joint statement addressed to President Gustavo Petro, in which they make an urgent call to fulfill the commitment.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the “Nydia Erika Bautista” Foundation (FNEB) occasionally since 2007 and in full since 2016.
Further reading: PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as it honours Yanette Bautista, launches network and campaign on Law 2364 (PBI-Canada article, October 28, 2025).
