After presenting a National Strategy for the Prevention of Violence against Minors on Wednesday, the international organization warned that the rise in violence in the country also affects the younger population.

According to Unicef, violent deaths among children and adolescents increased by 800 percent from 2021 to 2023, and reached a record 387 deaths from January to September 2024.

Given the situation, that UN agency and the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) launched the Strategy that seeks to ensure that children grow up in homes, schools and communities free of violence.

Unicef’s representative in Ecuador, Juan Enrique Quiñónez, also revealed that one in two children under five here has suffered some sort of physical or psychological abuse at home, and pointed to suicide as the main cause of death in adolescent women aged 12 to 17. Adding to this scenario, the local educational systema has reported more than 25 thousand cases of sexual violence. Ecuador, on the other hand, is the Andean country with the highest rate of teenage pregnancies.

“This strategy is based on the evidence that preventing violence is significantly more convenient than seeking to heal the consequences,” said Quiñónez.

The Strategy proposes seven axes, including the implementation and monitoring of compliance with laws, strengthening positive parenting standards and values based on respect and guaranteeing safety in the environment.

Vice dean of Research, Linkage and Innovation of PUCE, Juan Pablo Salgado, insisted on the importance of attacking the structural causes of violence, that is, inequality, male chauvinism, or the normalization of abuse.

Today, on the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, young Ecuadorians presented the Youth Manifesto ‘A generation that protects a flourishing childhood’, demanding urgent actions from society to guarantee protection and well-being.

ied/rc/avr