Violence against women does not decrease in Ecuador

Image: Expreso

Public defender Ernesto Pazmiño says he sees “with great concern institutional figures on the assistance for women who are victims of violence in the country.”

According to these reports, last year the Ombudsman answered 29,494 requests for sponsorship in cases of violence against women. And this year the trend continues. He mentions that until August 17,805 women asked for help.

For Pazmino, statistics are disappointing, because these affirm that violence against women “is a very serious problem of the Ecuadorian society, is naturalized and accepted as”normal,” a reality that violates their rights to life, health, education, security, physical, psychological and sexual integrity, among others.”

Virginia Gomez de la Torre, of the Desafio Foundationensures that the violence has not decreased and more cases are denounced now. One of these manifestations is violence in dating relationships. That is, according to her, “a subject that is not spoken and invisible.”

For lawyer Cristobal Buendia, these results are a demonstration that tougher penalties do not diminish the crimes.

According to the prosecution, from January to September 2015 40.507 complaints of physical, psychological and sexual violence were presented. Of these, 36,653 were by psychological violence. Guayas and Pichincha reported the highest number with 12,193 and 7,231 cases respectively.

Source: http://expreso.ec/expreso/plantillas/nota.aspx?idart=8687143&idcat=38269&tipo=2