Ecuador participates in Institutional Exchange Workshop for the pilot Implementation of the Statistical Framework to measure femicide

Quito, Ecuador. March 15, 2024.

In a joint effort to address and understand the problem of gender-related homicides of women and girls, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador (INEC) held an “Institutional Exchange and Mapping Workshop” for the pilot implementation of the statistical framework for the measurement of gender-related murders of women and girls. The event, held online, brought together representatives of various institutions involved in data collection and analysis in Ecuador.

The day began with a greeting by Ms. Adriana Oropeza Literas, Coordinator of the UNODC – INEGI Center of Excellence, Ms. Carina Santos Cevallos, General Technical Coordinator of Planning, Regulations and Statistical Quality of INEC, and Ms. Teresa Guerra, Coordinator of the UN Women – INEGI Center of Excellence, who highlighted the importance of this meeting to advance the implementation of the statistical framework.

Mr. Roberto Murguía Huerta, Researcher on Security and Justice Administrative Records and Ms. Teresa Guerra presented the Statistical Framework, providing a comprehensive overview of its scope and application.

Dr. María Alejandra Sigcha, Prosecutorial Agent of the State Attorney General’s Office, shared details on the process of response and judicial treatment of homicide cases, from the removal of the body to its prosecution, offering a fundamental perspective from the legal sphere. Subsequently, the registration of information on homicides and violent deaths was addressed by several professionals, including investigative agents from the National Directorate of Crimes against Life, Violent Deaths, Disappearances, Extortion and Kidnapping of the National Police, legal doctors from the National Service of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, and analysts from the Directorate of Jurimetric Studies and Judicial Statistics of the Judiciary Council, among others.

The process of recording additional information on violence against women was also highlighted, with the participation of representatives of the National Council for Gender Equality, the Integrated Security Service ECU 911, and the Ministry of Women and Human Rights. The functioning of the Special Commission of Statistics on Security, Justice, Crime and Transparency was another relevant point of the agenda, with the intervention of the directors of the INEC.

The event concluded with a presentation on the activities and the work route for the pilot test of the implementation of the statistical framework in Ecuador, by representatives of UNODC and UN Women, thus consolidating the commitment of all parties involved in addressing the phenomenon of femicide in the country.

The workshop represented a significant step towards the construction of a robust and accurate statistical system that will help to make visible and address this problem, laying the foundations for future coordinated actions on data on femicide.