According to the Constitution, Ecuador is a secular state, but the individual rights of women are still limited based on religious morality. In Ecuador, a 1938 Penal Code was maintained, which allowed non-punishable abortion if the pregnancy represented a risk to the health or life of a woman and only when it was a case of rape of an "insane or an idiot woman".
In this context, statistics show that more than 2000 girls a year become pregnant after rape; that is to say that girls and women pregnant as a result of rape were forced into motherhood and if they had an abortion they were being criminalized. For several years the feminist movement has grown in Ecuador and the petition for the right to abortion is their demand for justice in a secular democracy, considering it as a matter of human rights, public health and above all a matter of basic freedoms for women.
Despite the constant harassment of anti-rights groups, called "pro-life", which are financed by the church and led mainly by men, social and women's organizations have filed several lawsuits to reverse this situation. On April 29, 2021 the ruling decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape for any girl or woman was made official.
Now the challenge is to enforce and create a legal framework and protocols to ensure access to safe and free abortions, as well as care and support for women and girls who have become pregnant after rape.
This story accompanied Karol Noroña's report in La Periódica: Yes, it's law!
In this context, statistics show that more than 2000 girls a year become pregnant after rape; that is to say that girls and women pregnant as a result of rape were forced into motherhood and if they had an abortion they were being criminalized. For several years the feminist movement has grown in Ecuador and the petition for the right to abortion is their demand for justice in a secular democracy, considering it as a matter of human rights, public health and above all a matter of basic freedoms for women.
Despite the constant harassment of anti-rights groups, called "pro-life", which are financed by the church and led mainly by men, social and women's organizations have filed several lawsuits to reverse this situation. On April 29, 2021 the ruling decriminalizing abortion in cases of rape for any girl or woman was made official.
Now the challenge is to enforce and create a legal framework and protocols to ensure access to safe and free abortions, as well as care and support for women and girls who have become pregnant after rape.