Executive Summary “The individual, domestic and community costs of violence against women in Ecuador”
In Ecuador, according to the Encuesta Nacional de Relaciones Familiares y Violencia de Género contra las Mujeres1 (National Survey on Family Relations and Gender-Based Violence against Women), approximately 65 out of every 100 women are psychologically, economically, physically, or sexually abused at least once in their lifetime. Violence against women in intimate partner relationships (VAW) is the most prevalent form of genderbased violence. VAW acquires a series of forms and manifestations, ranging from the most bloody, such as sexual abuse and physical violence, to the more subtle and invisible, such as economic violence and emotional violence. The study understands VAW as an exercise of coercive power, since all these attacks occur within an unequal power relationship between men and women, being a mechanism used by men to keep women submissive and subordinate to their authority.
For centuries, VAW and its effects have been underestimated by society. Determining the economic impact of VAW, from an integrated approach, including a multilevel analysis, is necessary to strengthen the arguments in favor of its effective prevention.
This study calculates the costs of VAW for Ecuador, and takes into account an approach at different levels to demonstrate that VAW is also a brake on social and economic development, as it destroys women’s well-being, health, productivity, and capital, not only at the individual level, but also at the family and community levels.
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