The mobilization will pay tribute to lawyer María Belén Bernal, murdered by her husband, former National Police Lieutenant Germán Cáceres.

The march seeks to raise awareness in society “so that they no longer continue to kill us,” Bernal’s mother, Elizabeth Otavalo, told Radio Pichincha. “We continue to fight against injustice, because in Ecuador there is no longer justice,” she denounced.

Lawyer Bernal disappeared on September 11, 2022. Her body was found ten days later. Her husband, who confessed to the murder, remained a fugitive from justice for more than three months in Colombia, where he was captured on December 30, 2022. He was sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison on May 25.

The case caused a great commotion in Ecuadorian society, impacted politics and raised questions about police training, since the murder evidently took place within the Higher Police School, where Cáceres worked.

The event also brought to light the situation of gender violence in Ecuador, where 332 femicides were reported in 2022, and there have been over 120 so far this year, according to statistics from social organizations.

Activists against gender violence have reported that only 29 percent of femicides in the country have reached a sentence.

According to a study by the Latin American Association for Alternative Development, every 28 hours an Ecuadorian woman is a victim of violence.

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