Ecuador Reports 238 Femicides So Far This Year

On Wednesday, the Latin American Association of Alternative Rights (ALDEA) released a report revealing that 238 femicides occurred in Ecuador between January 1 and Sept. 25.

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"At least 238 women's lives have been violently taken by macho violence in Ecuador," the humanitarian NGO said, emphasizing that 1,617 femicides have been recorded since 2014, when Ecuador recognized femicide as a crime related to patriarchal violence.

So far this year, 228 victims of femicide were Ecuadorian, while 10 were foreigners. The youngest victim was a baby less than one year old, and the oldest was a 90-year-old women.

A concerning aspect noted this year is 130 femicides committed by criminal networks, a figure surpassing femicides related to intimate matters (94) and transfemicides (14).

This underscores the importance of addressing both domestic violence and the new contexts of gender-based violence in organized crime environments, as explained by ALDEA.

Additionally, highlighting an "alarming" statistic emerging from the analysis of femicides in Ecuador this year, it is noted that "68% of these crimes were committed using firearms."

"This trend has seen significant growth in recent years, underscoring the need to address the availability and use of firearms in the country," it was indicated.

The consequences of femicides are devastating for the victims and their families. So far this year, 74 of the murdered women were mothers, and 13 of them were pregnant. Due to femicides, at least 122 children were left orphaned.

The image shows georeferenced data on femicides in Ecuador in the first 9 months of 2023.

"The Ecuadorian state does not effectively fulfill its obligations, does not guarantee rights, nor prevent gender-based violence," said ALDEA. "It does not protect those demanding answers to acts of violence and does not ensure access to justice," it added.

"The fight for lives free of gender-based violence represents a commitment to all the mothers who have not yet received the truth, justice, and comprehensive reparation they deserve," ALDEA emphasized.

This humanitarian NGO called on all of Ecuadorian society to join the cause in search of truth, justice, and reparation, "but, above all, to prevent this violence from recurring in the future. There is no possible justification for femicidal violence."