16. Women journalists disproportionately suffer different types of violence, whether in the exercise of their work or over digital channels. The questions that arise are: How are they affected and what are the consequences for freedom of expression? Is the social debate and the quality of democracy impoverished? Violence against women journalists has a chilling effect, reinforced when such attacks remain in impunity. Among other possible effects, violence against women journalists and the subsequent impunity can discourage them from continuing their journalism careers or from working on certain issues. As has been established in the Case of Palamara v. Chile, "this type of violence against journalists can have a negative impact on other journalists who must cover events of this nature, who fear suffering similar acts of violence." 9 17. The difficulty faced by women journalists in particular is also clear from the data emerging from the report “Gender-based violence against women journalists in Colombia,” which found that: 6 out of 10 women journalists have experienced some incident of genderbased violence, and even when they are not direct victims, 77.9% said they knew of incidents of gender-based violence against one of their colleagues. 10 18. The Court highlighted in the Case of Carvajal Carvajal et al. V. Colombia that “because they are in close proximity to the contexts of intense political and armed violence, local and regional media are more vulnerable to aggression, pressure or persecution by those engaged in the conflict and the war.” 11 Furthermore, specifically in the case of Colombia, it was found in 1998 to be "the most deadly place for the press in the world." 12 The IACHR's Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression noted in his most recent annual report that Colombia has an “increasingly critical climate of violence against the press.” 13 In addition, Reporters Without Borders considers Colombia "one of the western hemisphere’s most dangerous countries for journalists." 14 The Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa recently Bedoya Lima y Otra v. Colombia, CASE No. 12,954, March 2021, France, para. 24. 9 Cf. Case of Palamara Iribarne v. Chile. Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment of November 22, 2005, Series C No. 135, para. 68, and Case of Vélez Restrepo and Relatives v. Colombia, para. 139. 10 Report “Gender-based violence against women journalists in Colombia,” November 11, 2020. Cf. Case of Carvajal Carvajal et al. v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of March 13, 2018, para. 32. 11 Cf. Case of Carvajal Carvajal et al. v. Colombia. Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of March 13, 2018, para. 167. 12 13 IACHR, Annual Report 2019, Report of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, 2019, para. 345. 14 Reporters without Borders, profile of Colombia. Available at: https://rsf.org/en/colombia. 5