00:00For more on this, we can speak now with Miriam Bande-Sabla.
00:03She's the UN Women's Country Representative for Ecuador.
00:07Thanks for being with us.
00:08Miriam, Ecuador's surge in gang violence is a problem for the country as a whole,
00:12but how is it affecting women and girls specifically?
00:18Thank you for this opportunity, first of all.
00:21And let me start by saying that in Ecuador, every woman lives under a danger.
00:28Okay, femicide, as in every part of the world, not only in Ecuador,
00:33is the most extreme expression of gender-based violence rooted in discrimination and unequal power relations.
00:42In the gender snapshot that was presented on the 17, the numbers are alarming.
00:49One out of three women globally have experienced some kind of violence,
00:54by a partner or sexual violence, of course, in their lifestyle, lifetime.
01:00In the past 12 months, 316 million, I'm sorry, 316 million women experienced physical violence throughout the world.
01:15So, this is a problem that, of course, occurs in Ecuador, but also occurs throughout the world.
01:22Okay.
01:23So, your report suggests that criminal groups are using the murder of women as a way to send messages
01:30and exert territorial control in Ecuador.
01:34How common is that tactic?
01:37And what does it tell us about the power that gangs hold in some communities there?
01:43Yeah, well, the criminal, that is what, see, femicide is rooted in gender equality and inequality,
01:52and that's very important for us, and the power imbalance.
01:55The gangs are using this as a way to show their strength,
02:02and they have been using throughout the world, in other countries too.
02:05They have been using women's body as a way of revenge and sending messages.
02:15But it is important for us to view this as a way in which society accepts violence against women,
02:25and feminicide is a failure to protect women, and the government to defend and protect women and communities.
02:38Women in Ecuador are being targeted as part of gang rivalries, we understand, and revenge attacks, as we've been talking
02:45about.
02:46Is Ecuador special in this regard?
02:49I mean, you were mentioning this is a big problem elsewhere, but is there something special with regard to Ecuador,
02:57or are you seeing these similar patterns elsewhere, for example, in Latin America?
03:03Yes, no, it is not special.
03:06Unfortunately, femicide and gang violence, it's going on throughout Latin America.
03:14From Mexico down, I would also include the United States too, but I wouldn't have the numbers of that.
03:22Let me tell you that femicide is based on gender inequality and power imbalance,
03:27and that is also taken within the gang members.
03:31It's also normalization of violence that happens in culture that tolerates domestic violence or controlling behavior.
03:42Also, there's a weak prevention and protection system for women, you know, the gang members,
03:48but not only the gang members, society in general.
03:52They need to be stronger methods to prevent and preserve women.
03:59We saw in our report, sorry, we saw in our report how the victims' families, in this case, are struggling
04:07to get justice.
04:08We heard allegations of corruption among justice officials there.
04:13How much of a problem is that?
04:16Yes, that is a problem that the state has been trying to solve.
04:21And we are supporting, for example, the state, the fiscal general, the attorney general,
04:30to develop a national protocol for investigation of femicide, for example.
04:37You have to also take into account that judges have engraved very traditional patriarchal thoughts.
04:47So for them, the femicide or women's violence is not taken as serious as it should be.
04:56There are, we are also supporting the national police in attending women,
05:04and we have developed a system to alert, which gathers information to various institutions
05:13so they can prevent and attend women victims of violence,
05:16especially victims of violence in general, but femicide.
05:23That is the ultimate situation of violence that exists and leaves women in Ecuador and throughout the world.
05:33Miriam, thank you very much for talking with us today.
05:35That was Miriam Bande-Sabla of UN Women Ecuador.
05:40Thank you very much.
