What happens when your own home, the place where you should feel safe, becomes a trap of fear and pain? What happens when screams silence your voice and violence erases your identity?
By Ángela Moreno
In Colombia, thousands of women live this reality. Between 2016 and 2023, more than 70% of registered cases of domestic violence involved women as victims, according to the Ministry of Justice. In 2023 alone, the National Police reported more than 119,000 cases and over 84,000 of them were assaults against women in their most intimate environment: the home.
These figures are not just statistics; they are silenced screams, interrupted lives and marked childhoods. But amid this grim scenario, there are those who choose not to look the other way. There are those who fight, who reach out and say, “here you can start over”.
One of these people is Ángela Herazo, founder of Dejamos Huella (“Leaving a Mark”, in English), a foundation based in Bogotá that has been working for more than a decade to support women victims of gender violence, especially those in vulnerable socioeconomic conditions.
“After facing serious health problems, where doctors told me I would never walk again, I found an inner strength that changed my life. I knew then that I had to share that strength with other women, so they too could find their own path”, says Ángela. That’s how Dejamos Huella was born.
A space to heal, learn and reconnect
More than 4,500 women have received support from the foundation, and over 3,000 children have benefited from food, education and play programs. Today, 150 women receive ongoing psychological, educational, and social support. For many of them, Dejamos Huella is not just an organization: it’s a family.
Alexandra Ortiz, a mother of four, arrived at Dejamos Huella after knocking on many doors without finding a response. “I grew up in violence. Over time, I became disconnected from myself, I lost myself. I went to several organizations, but only here did I feel that someone truly saw me, listened to me. Here I found a family. I don’t want to leave this place”.
Stories like Alexandra’s are repeated every day. Women who regain hope, learn trades, return to their studies. Women who reconnect with their children, their dreams, their dignity.
Employing to empower
In addition to providing comprehensive support, Dejamos Huella has created a catering unit with a certified kitchen, which financially sustains the foundation. Through it, they offer corporate lunches and snacks to allied companies and committed clients. This kitchen not only nourishes bodies but also futures, generating the necessary resources to support and serve more women.
Because everyone deserves a second chance
In a country where support pathways are still marked by bureaucracy, prejudice and a lack of differential focus, organizations like Dejamos Huella become a refuge, a voice, a beacon.
Because no woman should walk alone after violence. Because healing should not be a privilege. Because everyone deserves a second chance.
And at Dejamos Huella, that chance begins with a hug, a listening ear and the certainty that it is indeed possible to start over.
