Violence against women: When the aggressor is caught in flagrante delicto, justice can act without complaint from the victim. These are the penalties

With the evidence of the video and the capture in flagrante delicto, a complaint is not needed in the Prosecutor’s Office to prosecute the man who punched and kicked a woman in the face on an avenue in northern Guayaquil. Trial lawyers say that, under these circumstances, justice can -and must- act ex officio.

“The technical element, in this case the cameras, allows to fix the moment of the aggression and before that there was the response of the human element (the police) that went and captured it. Now, for these security elements to fulfill their objective, it is up to the administrator of justice to apply the norm”, says the lawyer and expert in security systems Stalin Sacoto.

The gender-based violence captured on Wednesday by the cameras of the Corporation for Citizen Security of Guayaquil (CSCG) and the video broadcast by the mayor Cynthia Viteri, who said that support was offered to the victim, caused repulsion on social networks, where the common phrase was “hopefully file the complaint.”

This case is a reflection of a permanent social problem in the country. The majority expressed, in addition to rejecting the attack, their concern that the man would be released without a complaint after he was captured by the Police.

But Sacoto points out that since the moment of the attack was recorded in a security system, which is public, and the man was caught right away, “the authority that is aware of a flagrant act can act ex officio, even if there is no complaint from the victim. ”.

A flagrant crime is related to immediacy, that is, it is considered so up to 24 hours after it has been committed.

A citizen is in a flagrante delicto when committing a crime in the presence of one or more people or when he is caught immediately (up to 24 hours) after his alleged commission and there is evidence of it. This is determined by article 527 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code (COIP).

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In the recording of the most recent case of violence against a woman, it is heard that through a megaphone, from the Corporation, they tell the victim to approach said entity to offer her the video that shows the aggression she suffered.

It is that the video, which serves as evidence for a procedural or pre-procedural instance, can be delivered at the request of the person who appears in it. But it can also be requested by the justice authorities on their own.

The lawyer Nicolás Salas agrees that the victim’s complaint is not needed in this case. “An investigation can start with any news of the crime, not necessarily a complaint.”

The news of the crime is the action by which a prosecutor learns of the commission of a crime or an infraction.

Salas says that this information can not only reach the judge through a video, but also through the reports prepared by the police officers who apprehended a person in flagrante delicto or even through the media.

What is the penalty for hitting a woman?

The COIP establishes the crime of “injuries” and regulates the penalties according to how serious the victim of an assault has been, regardless of their gender.

The penalties range from one to two months in prison in the most minor cases and from five to seven years in prison in the most serious. But in any case, the penalty is aggravated by a third when the victim of the injuries is the woman, partner, cohabitant or member of the family nucleus of the aggressor.

The art. 152 says that the person who injures another will be sanctioned according to the following rules:

1. 1. If as a result of the injuries, damage, illness or disability occurs in the victim for four to eight days, it will be sanctioned with a custodial sentence of 30 to 60 days.
2. If it causes damage, disability or illness to the victim for nine to thirty days, it will be punished with a sentence of two months to one year in prison.
3. If it causes damage, disability or illness to the victim for thirty-one to ninety days, it will be punished with a custodial sentence of one to three years.
4. If the victim produces a serious illness or a decrease in his physical or mental faculties, or a disability or illness that is not permanent for more than ninety days, it shall be punished with a custodial sentence of three to five years.
5. If it produces the victim mental alienation, loss of a sense or the faculty of speech, uselessness for work, permanent disability, loss or disablement of any organ or any serious communicable and incurable disease, it will be punished with a custodial sentence of five to seven years.

And article 156 of the COIP adds: The person who, as a manifestation of violence against women or members of the family nucleus, causes injuries, will be sanctioned with the same penalties provided for the crime of injuries (art. 152) increased by a third.

Help

Although in flagrant cases, according to the lawyers, a complaint is not needed, there are other facts that do require the presentation of one. For this reason, and with the aim of safeguarding the integrity of the victims, the State Attorney General’s Office has an option available on its website to make an online complaint of cases of violence against women and the family nucleus.

“If you are a victim or know of any case of femicide, physical, psychological, sexual violence, pornography with the use of minors or crimes against minors by electronic means, report it!, says the first message that appears on the home screen of the portal of the prosecution.

Once there, a form is displayed in which it is filled with a brief account of the facts and the data of the complainant and the accused.

“A single complaint is enough, in 24 hours we will contact you,” warns another message.

Despite these efforts, the figures reveal an escalation in family violence.

In Guayaquil, the helpline (1800-112112) of the Amiga program, You Are No Longer Alone, a municipal initiative that began in May 2018 with the purpose of eliminating violence against women, has received more than 4,000 calls to report gender-based violence.

The cases have been counted with growth year after year. During 2019 the service received 525 calls, in 2020 there were 712 and in 2021 the number rose to 2,996, totaling 4,233 communications.

Gina Galeano, director of Amiga, You Are No Longer Alone, maintains that “physical aggression continues to be the trigger for women to seek help and report.”

This type of violence, being consecutive and permanent, could lead to femicides. In 2021, 185 occurred in Ecuador according to data from the Center for the Promotion and Action of Women (Cepam), an organization that also offers support to women.

After physical aggression, psychological violence is the second cause of requests for help, says Galeano. “This is worrying because it could cause emotional damage, harming personal development to serious psychological problems such as suicide.”

Faced with this problem, the Government has created the first Violet Center to care for victims of gender violence in agreement with the Municipality of Guayaquil and is about to replicate these spaces in other cities through the Human Rights Secretariat.

In addition, in September of last year the so-called Comprehensive National System to Prevent and Eradicate Violence against Women was activated, which includes the implementation, within a year, of the so-called Single Registry of Violence (I).