# Domestic violence in Ecuador

Domestic violence in Ecuador is a part of the larger issue of domestic violence around the world. While domestic violence is not inherently gender-based violence, women are more likely to be the victim of this type of abuse, and most have a previously existing relationship with their abuser. The Ecuadorian government has passed laws demanding prison sentences for up to 26 years for those who are found guilty of rape and seven years for domestic violence, but enforcement has been lacking and the laws have failed to diminish Ecuador’s growing femicide rate. As of 2024, domestic violence was still identified as a pervasive issue in Ecuador by global human rights organizations as well as local feminist activists.

## Extent and social views

The extent of domestic violence is difficult to estimate, due to differing definitions of abuse and due to problems with self reporting in studies. In a 2008 survey, 32.4% of the women interviewed aged 15–49 said they had suffered physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner. As of 2022, it is estimated that 65% of Ecuadorian women between 15-49 years old have experienced some form of violence.
The femicide rate in Ecuador has been increasing over the past decade, reaching a peak of 332 reported femicides in 2022 and staying relatively high ever since. Although Ecuador's rate of 1.2 femicides per 100,000 women is lower than the United States (which in 2023 reported a femicide rate 2.6 per 100,000 women), a 2017 study published in the Qualitative Sociology Review found that Ecuadorian women often under reported abuse because they do not trust Ecuador’s legal institutions; thus, it is largely considered that for crimes such as domestic violence, Ecuadorian men “are able to act with impunity.”
According to the 2022 report on femicides in Ecuador by the Asociación Latinomericana para el Desarrollo Alternativo (ALDEA), the vast majority of perpetrators have an existing relationship with the victim.
* 72% had a current or previous romantic relationship
* 9% had a familial relationship
* 15% had no past or present relationship of any kind
In the 2008 survey, 38.2% of the women interviewed justified wife beating in certain circumstances. The most common reason for justification was when the wife "is or is suspected of being unfaithful" with 29.9% of women justifying wife beating in this situation.

## Legal Treatment

Although prohibited by law, domestic violence in Ecuador is widespread.
Family courts can impose fines for domestic violence, and have the power to remove an abusive spouse from the home. Ecuador has created specialized judicial units under the Ministry of Justice, with judges specializing in family violence. Serious cases of abuse can be referred to the Office of the Public Prosecutor for prosecution.
La Ley Contra la Violencia a la Mujer y la Familia (Law on Violence against Women and the Family) is Ecuador's principal law dealing with domestic violence. In addition, a new Criminal Code came into force in 2014, which also addresses domestic violence.
* Sexual abuse laws list a minimum punishment of 3 years and a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
* Rape laws list a minimum punishment of 19 years and a maximum punishment of 26 years in prison.

## Intersection with the Ecuadorian state

There have been a couple of highly publicized cases of domestic violence in Ecuador in the past 10 years, a number of which have been complicated by law enforcement either inhibiting the investigation process or directly perpetrating the crime. Even when law enforcement does investigate these crimes, the Ecuadorian protocol for investigating domestic violence—and gendered-violence as a whole—often revictimizes the person who has reported the crime.

### Activism at the intersection
#### Salomé Aranda

One high-profile case of domestic abuse occurred in October 2020, when an indigenous activist, Salomé Aranda, “responded” to the chronic abuse of her partner, Abel Vargas. Aranda’s defense resulted in her arrest because Vargas reported her to the police. In the investigation, both parties were found to have been physically harmed, but there was no evaluation of their mental well-being. Aranda received an expedited sentence of 10 days, following the guidelines of Ecuador’s Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code. Aranda maintained that she was not being tried fairly.
Those defending Aranda claim that the Ecuadorian justice system’s treatment of her during this process violated her constitutional rights to liberty because it did not take into account her specific identity as an indigenous woman and her lower socio-economic status. Additionally, in support of Aranda, Amnesty International wrote, we are “concerned about the lack of progress in relation to the attacks and threats that Salomé Aranda faced for her work to defend human rights related to the environment.” The attacks referred to here are from May of 2018 when Salomé Aranda and her family were physically attacked and threatened while in their home because of her involvement with the Amazonian Women collective. Aranda and three other members of Amazonian Women faced a series of violence and threats of violence following their protests defending indigenous territories from the expansion of oil fields. All four women filed a complaint with the police, but the investigations into the attackers’ identities were never conclusive. In response to this, Erika Guevara-Rosas, the Americas Director at Amnesty International, says that “Despite the promises of [the Ecuadorian] government, the lack of will to seriously investigate these attacks against human rights defenders and provide them with adequate protection sends a clear message to society: that these crimes are tolerated in Ecuador.”

#### María Belén Bernal

Another high-profile case of femicide occurred on September 21, 2022, when the body of lawyer María Belén Bernal was found 5km from a police facility in Quito where her husband, police lieutenant Germán Cáceres, was working. At the time of her death, Bernal was 34; she and Cáceres had been together for 6 years. Bernal was a criminal defense lawyer and a mother to a 12-year-old son from a previous relationship. Bernal was murdered by Cáceres 10 days prior, on September 11th, when she had visited him at the police facility where he was in charge of training young officers. Although multiple people in the building reported hearing a woman’s screams from his room, Cáceres was allowed to come and go from the building freely in the days after. Two days after Bernal had last been seen, Cáceres formally reported that she was missing. Cáceres was questioned on September 14, but he disappeared after his interview, triggering a nationwide manhunt. When he was found and brought into custody three months later, he was adamant that he was the sole perpetrator of this femicide. Cáceres was sentenced to 34 years in prison.
In the weeks following the discovery of Bernal’s body, protests took place in cities around Ecuador calling for an end to femicide. To feminist activists, and to Bernal’s own mother, Bernal’s murder was not only a matter of domestic violence but also an example of how Ecuador’s justice system fails to protect women from gender-based violence. In this case, it was a state agent who was the perpetrator of such harm. The women who protested, carried signs with messages like "Ni Una Menos" or "Vivas Nos Queremos" which translated are "Not one less" and "We want each other alive" respectively. News outlets report that hundreds of women protesting outside of the National Police Headquarters in Quito joined together in the chant: “What does it take to be a policeman? To be a murderer by night and by day!”

#### Social Media and Relevance Today

The slogans "Ni Una Menos" and "Viva Nos Queremos" are still prominent hashtags for Ecuadorian activists against gender-based violence, now joined by the hashtag “#BastaDeImpunidad” translated to "#StopImpunity" as the role of the Ecuadorian government is increasingly scrutinized. Violence against women remains a stringent issue in Ecuador today; ALDEA reports that 27 of the femicides committed in 2024 took place after domestic violence had been reported to the police or restraining orders had been filed. In the same report, ALDEA warns that femicides in Ecuador seem to be on the rise as 40 femicides occurred in the month of January alone.