The body of mayoral candidate Karina García was found shot and incinerated in her car in the Cauca department of southern Colombia, on 1 September.

For weeks, García had reported receiving threats and asked the government for increased protection during campaigning for the local and departmental elections at the end of the month.

Since the political race officially began, seven candidates have been murdered around the country.

These elections will be the first to take place since the historic signing of a peace accord between the Farc rebels and the Colombian government in 2016, ending more than 50 years of war.

The assassinations, attacks and threats against candidates take place amid concerns about increasing violence in Colombia. Some analysts attribute the killings to armed groups looking to gain territorial authority and the control of the illegal drugs trade. Those candidates who support the implementation of the peace process, including the eradication or substitution of coca crops, risk becoming targets.

Amid the rising tide of violence, national women’s organisations are voicing concerns that attacks on female political candidates are shaped by gender dynamics.

Carolina Mosquera, researcher at feminist organisation Sisma Mujer, said women are being targeted both for running as candidates, and for disturbing the patriarchal order. “Male candidates are being attacked, but not for gendered reasons – not because they are men.”

Irina Cuesta, a researcher at thinktank Fundación Ideas para la Paz, told the Guardian: “Our research has found that when women leaders are attacked, it’s through threats to their family members, sexual violence, and generalised warnings against the work they do. The contents of the threats are openly sexist and question [women’s] political processes more generally.”

She describes a wave of femicides that took place in Puerto Asís, Putumayo, earlier this year. Among victims were women who planned to register as candidates in the coming elections.

“There is a political message behind these aggressions against women leaders and candidates, particularly in the territories where stereotypes and tolerance to gender-based violence are useful tools for illegal armed actors.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The remains of the armoured car in which mayoral candidate Karina García and five others were shot and killed, in a rural area of Suarez, Cauca department. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

María Emilsen Angulo is running to be the mayor of Tumaco, a port town on Colombia’s Pacific coast notorious for violence, drug-smuggling and the presence of armed groups.

In May, Angulo was approached by a group of armed men who told her to end her political campaign.

“I was worried, because I know how things work around here, but I continued cautiously. The second time they came to me, it was much more vulgar, crueller,” she says, in her campaign office in the centre of Tumaco.

“They threatened me and told me that they know where my daughter is, where my husband is, that they know where we travel and how we move, and if something happened, it would be my fault.”

She and her team decided to pull out of the running, but later surprised the community by officially registering again.

“Women need to keep advancing to get access to the spaces that we still can’t reach. There should be an equality when it comes to governing this country, there should be more women counsellors, representatives, governors, mayors.”

She has hired private security, but remains fearful.

“When you launch a political campaign, you put your life at risk, your family at risk,” she says.

“I feel that there are no guarantees for my safety. I want to do my job, but there are stronger interests out there.”

Ten years ago, Laura Montoya nearly died after being attacked by a paramilitary group while in the office of her radio station. A journalist and activist for many years, she is now running for a seat in the departmental assembly of Putumayo, a southern province bordering Ecuador and Peru.

In 2018, Montoya received a death threat via an anonymous phone call, and earlier this year her name appeared on a menacing pamphlet signed by a paramilitary group. Despite ongoing fears for her safety, she decided to launch a political campaign.

“Women are gaining ground, but we still have further to go, and this has to begin from above, with policies that can represent real changes,” she says.

“There is a gendered issue here. There is a deep-rooted machismo. I work alongside men who are involved in the same activism and they haven’t received the threats that I have.”

Her department, Putumayo, continues to be one of the top coca-growing parts of the country, and armed groups are once again trying to gain control of the illicit trade.

When it comes to women running for office in this context, Montoya is clear: “Women have become more empowered, but [participation] is still lacking because of the fear, the lack of guarantees for their security.”

According to 2011 law, each party’s electoral list must include 30% women. Despite this, only 12% of all mayors in the country are women.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest People gather in Suarez to honour mayoral candidate Karina García. Photograph: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images

Ana Güezmes García, the Representative for UN Women in Colombia, said “one of the biggest challenges is women’s participation at the local level”.

“To consolidate the peace process, we need to invest in women … and create a culture of security for them,” she added.

“Gendered violence is based in hatred. The level of murders and extreme violence we have seen in Colombia is very worrying and requires a strengthened response from all of the institutions. It’s the community leaders who face the biggest risks of threats and violence, which is why it’s extremely important that what we saw happen in Cauca mobilises everyone to respond, investigate and sanction what happened.”

During her campaign, Karina García’s political slogan was: “One woman, one hope”.

“She wanted to bring a new sort of leadership to Suárez [her municipality],” says Mosquera, “but when so few women are willing to risk entering electoral politics and then they see events like this, the message becomes extremely clear: don’t participate or this could happen to you too.”