Sexual Violence Has Become Normalized in Ecuadorian Prisons: Women of the Front

A Deprivation of Liberty Center in the province of Guayas, Sept. 1, 2024. X/ @CDHGYE

September 26, 2024 Hour: 10:42 am

Activists denounced that sexual violence against incarcerated women is also loaded with class and racial discrimination.

On Wednesday, Sociologist Heidy Mieles denounced that sexual violence against women has become “a currency of exchange” in Ecuadorian prisons.

“Sexual violence is not just about the satisfaction of a sexual act; it is a way to conquer a body. There are women who accept sexual exchanges because it can become a life-or-death decision,” said Mieles, who is a member of “Women of the Front,” an organization defending the rights of incarcerated women.

“This is a call to pay attention to what is happening in prisons, because every incarcerated person should have basic conditions to live and not be forced to become a currency of exchange,” she added, pointing out that the aggressors are often prison guards, fellow inmates, police officers, or public officials.

Earlier this year, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared an “internal armed conflict” to combat the actions of criminal groups linked to drug trafficking. This internal security measure led to the militarization of prisons, which included banning or restricting family visits to inmates.

"Gender violence has been at the forefront of women’s human rights struggles […] Drawing on over twenty years of research and activism in rural Ecuador @karinfriederic provides a remarkably intimate view of what these rights-based programs actually achieve over the long term" pic.twitter.com/28CRec4Uhj
— LASA ECUADOR (@LASAECUADOR) August 28, 2023

“Sexual violence against women worsens during times of war,” Mieles said, alluding to the consequences of decisions made by the Noboa administration.

Recently, to highlight decades of struggle for the defense of incarcerated women’s rights, Kikuyo Publishing released the book “Women of the Front. A Story of Popular and Anti-Racist Feminist Organization in Ecuador (2004-2024).” In its pages, more than a dozen women analyze experiences related to the violation of rights within penitentiaries. Their voices reveal that sexual violence against incarcerated women is also loaded with class and racial discrimination.

“The prison system generates racial violence in very specific regions of the country such as Esmeraldas or Guayas,” Mieles explained, referring to areas predominantly populated by Black and Indigenous communities.