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News > Latin America

More Than 100 Women Killed in Ecuador in 6 Months

  • Poster with slogan #NotOneMore during a march in Buenos Aires in June 2015.

    Poster with slogan #NotOneMore during a march in Buenos Aires in June 2015. | Photo: Reuters

Published 15 August 2017
Opinion

Latin America is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, with seven out of 10 countries with the highest femicide rates coming from the region.

More than 100 women have been murdered in Ecuador in the first six months of 2017, according to the collective Critical Geography, which presented a map of the femicides on Monday.

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The collective said that 103 femicides were reported between Jan. 1 and Aug. 2.

The report found that the most populated provinces in Ecuador had the highest number of femicides: Guayas (21) and Pichincha (20), Manabi (12), Azuay (8) and Los Rios (7).

The collective pointed to the fact that in more than three-quarters of the cases, the women surviving an attempt of femicide identified their partner or ex-partner as the assailant.

In March 2015, femicide was recognized in the Penal Code of Ecuador, meaning that crimes against women are not considered as crimes of passion but crimes of gender discrimination, and viewed as an aggravating circumstance.

Latin America is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, with seven out of 10 countries with the highest femicide rates coming from the region.

IN DEPTHED:
Femicide in Latin America

The high rate of impunity — among broader issues of security and inequality that make women vulnerable — helps normalize violence against women in these countries.

Outrage at the lack of justice and the failure of the state to take swift and firm action against the escalating number of femicides has led to protest movements, such as the "Ni Una Menos" movement in Argentina.

In recent years, 16 Latin American countries enacted legislation aimed at curbing the rate of femicide and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Despite these advances, femicide still remains a huge threat to women in Latin America.

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