Now, in Ecuador, the violent deaths of women and girls will first be investigated as femicide. This, after a new protocol of the State Attorney General’s Office.
He strangled his partner, who was 21 years old, and then murdered the young woman’s son, only 2 years old. It happened in the El Dorado neighborhood of Loja on April 29, 2018. To dispose of the bodies, he threw them in parts in the areas of Payanchi and La Tenería.
For these events, in March 2019, Joe B. was sentenced for femicide and murder to the maximum prison sentence, 40 years, not counting the financial fine and reparation in favor of the victims (for the next of kin).
Another case in which the maximum penalty was imposed was for the femicide of Germania Quiroz, 23, on July 18, 2019 in the Buenos Aires commune, Santa Elena. That day, Claudio V., her partner, first stabbed her inside the home and finished her off on the Guayaquil-Salinas highway, as far as the wounded young woman reached.
Germania’s mother was also stabbed by Claudio in his attempt to defend her. It was serious, but managed to survive. The 40-year prison sentence was handed down in June 2021. Germania left two orphaned daughters, 4 and 6 years old at the time.
They also gave 40 years in prison, in 2019, to Manuel A. and Tania R., two of the three accused of the femicide of Emilia Benavides, 9, murdered in December 2017 in Loja after being kidnapped, outraged and cremated.
José Fabián NR, the first to be implicated, committed suicide hours after his arrest. Due to this case that also shocked the country, the so-called Emilia Alert was implemented, a protocol for the early search for missing children and adolescents.
In Ecuador, the penalties for femicides range from 22 to 26 years in prison. If there are aggravations, such as wanting to establish or reestablish a relationship, the limit must be imposed, 26 years, according to the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP), in force since August 2014.
But there are cases, such as those mentioned above, in which the maximum penalty for serious crimes is imposed in Ecuador, which is 40 years. This is because there is more than one crime against the victim or because others occurred in the same act that affected their close circle, such as family members who were killed or injured during a femicide.
196 women murdered violently in Ecuador in 2021; Groups ask to declare a red alert in the face of a rise in femicides, regarding the international date
But it is not enough with the application of the maximum penalty or with the sanction to speak of justice in cases such as femicides and violence against women and their families, say activists and human rights defenders, who also call to declare the red alert in Ecuador before the rise in femicides and violent deaths in the country, which only so far in 2021 has claimed the lives of 196 women, according to statistics from the Judicial Council.
They maintain that timely and effective reparation measures are required; protection and rehabilitation systems (for the aggressor); accompaniment and monitoring of those affected and their families; and, above all, investment in prevention to stop the wave of violent deaths and attacks against women in Ecuador, which in seven years, since the COIP and femicide came into force, has killed 1,263 women.
“The State, which is the guarantor of protecting all citizens, in this case women, should really invest in prevention. There has to be a change in culture, conceptions, practices and attitudes, which should be mainstreamed in the educational system, from when we are little, ”says psychologist Annabelle Arévalo, master in Family Therapy and coordinator of the Ecuadorian Center for Promotion and Women’s Action (Cepam) in Guayas, which deals daily with cases of women victims of gender violence.
She says that in these seven years, the feminist movement has demanded that the violence stop and they have been forced to carry out activities, such as sit-ins or marches for the State to fulfill its duty. But, she affirms, governments and governments pass and have only seen patchy measures, but not a reform or public policy that entails comprehensive protection for women and girls.
“It may be that he has 30 or 40 years in prison (the culprit), but if there is no rehabilitation system, which there is not for the aggressors, of protection before (a femicide or assaults occurs), there are no changes in society really. Resources must be allocated according to what is required (for prevention) ”, explains Arévalo.
And it details that, in addition to changes in conceptions, practices and attitudes, it is necessary to access or have information on the subject, which is established in the educational system from preschool to university.
“The educational system gives much to be desired: there is no comprehensive sexual education, there is no prevention of gender violence, there is no subject or specialization on how to address gender violence, which exists in other countries …”, says this promoter of women’s rights.
With traumas and without psychological or economic help, orphans by femicides in Ecuador are on the rise and without healing wounds
Mayra Tirira, a human rights lawyer and part of the Surkuna foundation, is a litigator in cases of gender violence. He says that even the fact that there is a conviction is not a guarantee of justice, because there are aggressors or femicides who are fugitives, free, since the sentence has not yet been executed, it does not even pass through the Constitutional Court. And then comes another process and timeout for the capture.
Additionally, it mentions that comprehensive reparation is lacking or is needed, which has several guarantees, according to Ecuadorian laws, such as restitution, which is to return things to their previous state, and which in a case of femicide is not possible. But there is rehabilitation, which are all the measures that the State can have to try to mitigate the effects of violence, and which translate into psychological care, adequate legal care, socio-economic care if required (State institutions must do follow-up for compliance).
Comprehensive reparation, adds Tirira, also includes guarantees of non-repetition, which are the structural measures that the State can take to prevent acts of violence from happening again. And the latter is an international standard.
Remember, for example, that a couple of years ago in an area of Latacunga several femicides occurred in a sector that was not illuminated. And a measure as a guarantee of non-repetition, he says, would have been for the judges to directly order the local municipality to illuminate that area.
Other measures with guarantees of non-repetition can be training.
Tirira assures that there have been cases of femicides caused by public officials, such as police, firefighters and others, in which judges can order institutions to implement training in prevention, in eradicating violence, in dealing with cases. They can also improve their recruiting standards and do psychological monitoring to see how that works.
Symbolic measures can also be given, such as putting up a plaque, making a public apology (in cases such as re-victimization) and others.
Now, cases of violent deaths of women and girls will be investigated first for femicide
Prosecutors will now investigate cases of violent deaths of women and girls as femicide first. Then, in the course of the process, they may or may not discard that.
This, after the presentation of the so-called “National Protocol to investigate femicides and other violent deaths of women and girls”, which was signed by the Attorney General, Diana Salazar Méndez, on November 24, within the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is remembered every November 25.
“The protocol will allow to equip prosecutors, secretaries and assistants with theoretical and practical tools for criminal investigation of femicides and other crimes that involve violent deaths of women and girls, which, in addition, will allow to strengthen the response to their families, because guaranteeing access to justice, with quality and warmth and professionalism, should not remain an intention or a piece of paper, it is a reality that we build on a daily basis, ”said Salazar during the public signing of this document.
For organizations that fight for women’s rights, this translates into the landing of the Latin American protocol that existed since 2015 in the region to investigate cases of femicides and violent deaths of women and girls.
It is an international regulation that “proposed guidelines to investigate these crimes with a gender perspective, with due diligence, doing well, promptly”, among others. And each country had to adjust the protocol to its reality, says Mayra Tirira, who was also a consultant for the development of the local protocol.
Academia and civil society participated in the construction of this tool for Ecuador, adds the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Spotlight initiative and UN Women were in the technical support.
The protocol entered into force as soon as it was signed, that is, from the afternoon of November 24. From there, the prosecutors, secretaries and assistants made the commitment to train and use this technical tool, it was said.
During the signing of the protocol, Ana Badilla, representative of UN Women in Ecuador, mentioned that the risk to women’s lives has increased exponentially, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, he added, it is important that institutions guarantee the rights of citizens and avoid violence in all its forms.
“The protocol is a significant and sustainable tool, the result of the commitment to direct a more egalitarian and fair Ecuador,” said Badilla. (I)
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