Colombian People’s Willingness to Forgive Offenses against Women Perpetrated during the Armed Conflict

Abstract We examined the Colombian people's positions on forgiving perpetrators of offenses against women during the armed conflict, and the relationship between willingness to forgive and attitudes towards the peace process. The majority of participants (61%) were quite unwilling to forgive. Among participants who were not completely hostile, three positions were found. For 18%, forgiving mainly depended on the type of crime, for 8%, it depended on the subsequent apologetic behaviour, and for 8%, forgiving was unconditional. Participants who did not reject the possibility of forgiveness expressed significantly more positive views regarding the current peace process than participants who expressed rejection.