The danger of being a woman in Ecuador.

AutorSaavedra, Luis Angel
CargoFemicide in Ecuador

Karina del Pozo, a 20-year-old student who also worked part time as a model at promotional events, disappeared on Feb. 19. Her body, showing signs of rape, was found eight days later. Her killers were close friends of hers who had been with her at a party.

On March 26, 22-year-old Leslie Rosero disappeared; her body was found in a park four days later. The police determined that she had been strangled. Earlier, on Jan. 26, 2012, Estefanfa Madera, also 20, disappeared, and her body was found two days later.

Marfa Eugenia Carrera disappeared on Aug. 20, and her body was not found for almost seven months. The last time anyone saw Marfa Eugenia was when she left work with some friends to "have a few beers and talk."

On April 28, 2012, Carolina Garzon, 22, went missing. No trace of her has been found, as is the case with Juliana Rodriguez who vanished July 7, 2012.

These are but a few examples of disappearances reported in the Ecuadoran capital, but they are also occurring throughout the country. The disappearances and murders are considered femicide, the murder of a woman for being a woman and where sexual, domestic, or workplace violence can be determined.

There is little evidence to go on in these cases, since the national police and prosecutors do not have specialized teams to investigate disappearances. They have 45 days to question friends and relatives, after which any further investigation is left in the hands of the person's relatives.

Silence--the accomplice to femicide

An investigation by the Observatorio Metropolitano de Seguridad Ciudadana in Quito found that 21 cases of femicide were reported in the capital in 2012 and 28 cases were reported in 2011.

The Transitional Commission for the National Council of Women and Gender Equality (Comision de Transicion Hacia el Consejo Nacional de las Mujeres yla Igualdad de Genero) says that 77% of the murders of women in four cities in the country constitute femicide. Their data indicates that four of every 10 women experience intrafamilial abuse, regardless of their social or economic situation. Of the 170 deaths of women reported in Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, Cuenca, and Portoviejo, 80 were murders, and 62 had signs consistent with femicide.

Legislative Deputy Marfa Paula Romo says that a murder is considered femicide when the killer is a man--the spouse, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, brother, or father of the victim or someone with whom she had, or previously had, a close or emotional relationship.

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