A/HRC/7/39 page 21 69. The Ministry of Interior and Justice maintains its Journalists Protection Program, but the measures requested from the Committee for Regulation and Assessment of Risk need to be expedited. The lack of effective progress in the investigation, processing and punishment of those responsible for violations of the rights of journalists contributes to the persistence of crimes against them. 7. Violence against women and children in the context of the conflict 70. The armed conflict continues to have a specific impact on women, even though, as in previous years, it is not easy to document cases of sexual abuse that have occurred in this context. Information has been received on cases attributed to FARC-EP, revealing that sexual violence is used as a mechanism for pressure or retaliation. For example, in June 2007 a teacher was subjected to sexual violence in Medellín for having refused to instruct her pupils in the political ideals of the guerrillas. FARC-EP was also attributed responsibility for the murder of women who attempted to desert from their ranks. 71. The office in Colombia also received information on cases of sexual violence attributed to members of the army in incidents which occurred in Bolívar and Putumayo. 72. In May 2007, the Attorney General set up a special group within its Human Rights Unit to be responsible for the investigation of cases in which the victims have been women, children and adolescents subjected to specific violations of their rights in the context of the armed conflict. 73. Minors - both boys and girls - find themselves in a particularly precarious situation when they are victims of displacement due to the armed conflict. Cases are still being recorded of boys and girls seriously harmed by anti-personnel mines, acts of sexual violence, indiscriminate attacks and terrorist activities. 74. FARC-EP continued to recruit children of both sexes, especially in the departments of Arauca, Cauca, Antioquia, Sucre, Bolívar, Guaviare, Meta, Nariño and Valle del Cauca. In some cases the children were placed in the front line, resulting in killings in combats with State security forces. Likewise, ELN and the new illegal armed groups continued to recruit children. 8. Economic, social and cultural rights: poverty and inequality 75. During 2007, official figures, including statistics on poverty, unemployment and other socioeconomic indicators, were the object of public debate due to the changes introduced in official methods of measurement and to limitations of access to “plain files”, thus impeding comparisons with figures from previous years. As a result the credibility of these figures has been questioned. Official statistics reflect that approximately 45 per cent of Colombia’s population lives below the poverty line, and 12 per cent in extreme poverty.48 Displaced persons are the poorest of the poor.49 The Gini coefficient for Colombia, which is a measure of inequality 48 49 President Alvaro Uribe, Report to Congress 2007, 20 June 2007, p. 12. Research by International Committee of the Red Cross and World Food Programme (WFP) in eight cities (out of nine) with the largest number of displaced persons, 2007.