(Colombia Reports) Armed men have raped at least three women in the northwest of Colombia, forcing their families to flee their homes, local media reported on Friday.

The three families were allegedly forced to leave the neighborhood of La Esmeralda in the town of Apartado due to escalating violence, which began last Friday when armed men broke into their their homes, raped three and sexually assaulted one more. The men reportedly threatened to kill the victims if they spoke out about the crimes. Read full story at Colombia Reports

(Colombia Reports) Two top businesswomen in Colombia, a country that has just over 50% of its women in the workforce, said Monday they attribute their success to hard work and commitment.

Although gender equality is far from a reality in Colombia, a number of Colombian women have defied the stereotypes and risen to highly regarded positions in business.

According to the most recent statistics from Colombia’s national statistics agency, DANE, a mere 53.2% of Colombian women participated in the labor force last trimester – 22.2% less than men. Of those women within the labor force, 45.2% actually have work compared to 69.2% of men.

But in spite of these seemingly pessimistic figures, a report on gender and development by the World Bank in 2012 states that Colombia has a better participation rate than many other Latin American nations and Colombian women have better access to higher level positions, something that is still a challenge in many wealthy nations. Read full story at Colombia Reports