Born in Colombia and raised in France, Ingrid Betancourt is a politician for the Oxygen Green Party. Betancourt is a politician fiercely outspoken against corruption, and her story – unlike any other – is truly empowering.
In 2002, she was campaigning as a candidate for president in Colombia, representing the Green Party. Amidst her vigorous push towards being the first female president of Colombia, she was kidnapped by a guerrilla group called the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Her time during captivity is something that we cannot understand or relate to. She was constantly faced with brutality, beaten, starved, mentally tortured and continuously on edge of being killed by the simple pull of a trigger. Despite living in fear, she attempted to escape thrice, unfortunately in vain.
She was held captive for six and a half years, and was only rescued on the 2nd of July 2008.
Although many would look at her story and assume that she would accept defeat, this is not what she did. Betancourt took a break from politics, residing in France for a decade. After which she returned to her motherland, Colombia, and fought once again, even harder, to pursue her morals and values in the political sphere. Ingrid Betancourt is now a candidate for the May 2022 presidential candidacy in Colombia. She spoke out in the capital, Bogota, and said ‘Today I am here to finish what I started’. Her words are a personal reminder of the strength of women and our ability to persevere.
I believe that for many women, including myself, she symbolises the strengths of pursuing what you believe in. Simultaneously her story shows us that taking time to process and look after yourself is vital to optimise the achievement of your goals in life.
She was stripped of every single one of her possessions, as well as her name, clothes, or autonomy. The mere thought of the mental strain she was put through is undeniably a scary and unimaginable one. In the modern world, women make many strides forward but can face discouragement when facing numerous setbacks to their goals.l. However, the story of Ingrid Betancourt puts into perspective the fact that being hindered is certainly an obstacle, but not impassable. We can and will push past the obstacle, rebuild and move forward.
Women face an infinite amount of injustices. Although Ingrid Betancourt’s history may be perceived to be a much greater injustice, the validity of every woman’s injustice remains true, and significant. Women’s everyday setbacks, such as being deprived of equality through the gender pay gap or the inherent misogyny of our societies, are issues we need to keep on fighting, to achieve gender equality.
Ingrid Betancourt will always be a symbol for us, a woman filled with a passion driving her towards her goals, proving that resilience and perseverance is vital in the battle for equality.