Insight with Jineth Bedoya Lima: Journalism, Kidnap and Colombia’s Peace Process

Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Jineth Bedoya Lima knows this only too well. In May 2000 she was kidnapped, tortured and raped by the AUC, a right-wing paramilitary group. She was kidnapped for a second time in August 2003 by left-wing FARC guerrillas.

Despite the constant threat, she continues to work tirelessly to investigate armed conflict, drug trafficking, organised crime and issues around women and violence. Currently working for the national newspaper El Tiempo, in 2012 she was one of 10 women awarded the International Women of Courage Award and in October this year she was named as one of the 100 most influential journalists covering armed violence and conflict around the world, by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

We are honoured to welcome Jineth Bedoya Lima to the Frontline Club, she will be talking to Ed Vulliamy, a writer for The Guardian and Observer, about her prolific career as a journalist in Colombia, the work she does on conflict-related sexual violence and the ongoing peace process.