Ecuador responds to the bloodiest year against women with a minimal budget

Hundreds of women took to the streets in Quito on the occasion of International Women's Day, on March 8. José Jácome (EFE)

Official figures are against Ecuadorian women.

The number of murders and the money used for programs to combat gender violence result in a fatal duality.

Femicides and violent deaths due to gender are the highest since Ecuador began counting them officially in 2014, reaching 245 in August.

It is a reality that already overflows that of 2021, which was until now the bloodiest year for them with 227 dead women.

Despite the increase in sexist violence, the Ecuadorian Government has only executed 5% of the funds budgeted for this year for the eradication and prevention of this problem rooted in culture and education.

Of the three million dollars available, only 124,269 have been used.

These funds are part of the 13 million dollars allocated to the Human Rights Secretariat, which leads the policy against violence against women and finances the so-called violet centers.

That ministerial portfolio has only executed 1.13 million dollars so far this year, that is, 15% of what it could have done with that budget.

And, in parallel, the National Equality Council has $780,000 in circulation in its accounting records for September.

EL PAÍS unsuccessfully requested an interview with the responsible minister, Paola Flores, to find out the reasons for the slow implementation of the plans against sexist violence.

The director of the National Network of Shelters, Geraldina Guerra, attributes this double reality - the increase in deaths and the cut in funds - to the lack of government involvement in the problem.

"It's not just about announcing a public policy, but about putting it into operation," she reproaches.

“Sufficient funds are needed, but also efficient ones.

It is not enough to sign a decree and that's it.

Who watches that what was promised is fulfilled? ”, She adds with indignation.

The result, Guerra reasons, is that "a permanent message of impunity remains in society" and that is the background for the numbers of deaths and assaults on women to continue to rise instead of receding.

The director of the network, which is made up of a dozen shelters, recalls that UN Women has recognized that these centers should be considered an essential service by the countries.

“Here they have reduced our funds by withdrawing our staff: there is no longer an educator and they have only left a facilitator, who is the person who is in the center all day with the women and their children,” says Guerra.

The shelters are financed with public funds, which mainly cover the salaries of what until now were seven people in charge of food, education, coordination, psychological and legal care, and with funds from civil organizations that support the other expenses.

Already in December 2021 an alert was launched due to the cuts to the slightly more than 125,000 dollars that the State puts in annually.

"Ecuador is a highly violent country for women," concludes the representative, "in which public policy ignores its own death data."

Already in the Government of Lenín Moreno, predecessor of the current one, the budget allocation reduced the funds against sexist violence almost to the point of disappearance, despite the fact that he launched a campaign under the slogan "not one less" that recognized the murder of one woman every three days and despite the fact that he sent a law to combat violence to the Assembly.

The Executive of Guillermo Lasso, who has governed since May of last year, has continued that trail of promising forcefulness with the word, but losing that conviction in the allocation of resources.

The president offered in March to speed up the process to distribute bonuses to children who have been orphaned as a result of the murders of their mothers.

At that time, a conviction was required for minors to access aid, but with the presidential decree it was enough that there be a fiscal investigation.

What women's organizations denounce today is that the information and documentation requirements for families already affected by the loss of the woman continue to hinder the distribution of aid.

Of the 1,539 women killed since 2014, 821 had children and 37 were pregnant.

In 145 cases, the aggressor ended up committing suicide and in another 135, he fled.

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