DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, THE IMPACT ON WOMEN

Abstract

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women, it is estimated that 20% to 50% of women have suffered violence committed by a partner or family member, for cultural reasons they have been taken as a pretext to legitimize violence against women in society and the private sphere, where it is usually committed by a man with whom the woman has a relationship of trust. Women suffer a chain of violation of their rights in many cases from birth and throughout their lives, the various forms of violence of which they are victims have significant impacts on their physical and mental health and their full development, a study on the accumulated incidence of femicides in Ecuador from 2001 to 2017 reveals that there is a record of 3,236 cases, data that reflect that women between 25-29 years old, with primary education, and Afro-Ecuadorian descent, are more likely to be murdered, the The most used method was firearms in 38%, the youngest victims on average 10 years old suffered mostly sexually, the youngest reported victim was 1 year old and the oldest was 99 years old, the older victims, on average with an age of 33 years, they were predominantly attacked with blunt objects, in said study the costs related to femicides were analyzed, resulting in losses for the country d e more than 500 million dollars lost between the years 2001-2017, corresponding to 35 million per year. Ecuador has presented an advance in legislation by criminalizing femicide in article 141, organic criminal code. It is known that regarding the progress in the matter, this type of violence has been addressed over the years by international organizations who have pronounced with international responsibilities to the countries on the subject, there are world estimates that suggest at least 87,000 women were murdered in 2017, that is, more than 6 women per hour. A WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence reveals that all types of violence against women are associated with worse outcomes, however, sexual violence combined with physical and/or psychological violence is related to suicidal behaviour, poor health, unwanted pregnancy and abortion, psychological violence is as harmful to mental and physical health as physical violence, it also reveals that combined physical and psychological violence is the most frequent. It is essential to take effective action to deal with this public health problem, promote research to make visible this pandemic that has been claiming the lives of many women and girls around the world for many years, the evolution of societies must be reflected in equity and life worthy.

Keywords: domestic violence, violence against women, partner violence, gender violence, femicide.