Information on whether the Police Station for Women and Families (Comisaría de la Mujer y la Familia) investigates complaints against police or other state officials for domestic violence was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The Police Station for Women and Families offers legal, psychological and social assistance to victims of domestic violence (Ecuador n.d.). According to two women's rights organizations, the Police Station for Women and Families deals with complaints of domestic violence against police officers or other state officials (CLADEM 26 Jan. 2007a; Corporación Mujer a Mujer 12 Feb. 2007). However, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Ecuadorian division of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defence of Women's Rights (Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defense de los Derechos de la Mujer - CLADEM), "a women's and women's organizations network" that works to defend women's rights in Latin American and the Caribbean (CLADEM n.d.), indicated that generally, police remain reluctant to intervene when police or military personnel are involved (CLADEM Ecuador 26 January 2007b). In addition, in 13 February 2007 correspondence with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Women to Women Corporation (Corporación Mujer a Mujer), a non-governmental organization that works to fight violence against women in Ecuador (Isis International n.d.), noted that it is more difficult for women to file a complaint of domestic violence when their aggressor is a member of the police or other state official. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 notes that a woman can file a complaint against an abusive spouse or companion only if she produces a witness (US 8 March 2006, Sec. 5). The same report adds that "[a] police internal affairs office investigates complaints against police officers and can refer cases to the police courts" (ibid., Sec. 1d).

No specific information on complaints against police officers or other state officials for domestic violence could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defense de los Derechos de la Mujer - (CLADEM). N.d. "Presentation." http://www.cladem.org/english/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2007]

Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defense de los Derechos de la Mujer - Ecuador (CLADEM - Ecuador). 26 January 2007a. Correspondence from a representative.

_____. 26 January 2007b. Correspondence from a representative.

Corporación Mujer a Mujer. 13 February 2007. Correspondence from a representative.

_____. 12 February 2007. Correspondence from a representative.

Ecuador. N.d. Gobernación de Manabí. "Comisaría de la Mujer y la Familia - Una opción para la justicia e igualdad." http://www.gobernacionmanabi.gov.ec/servicios.php?serid=9 [Accessed 5 Mar. 2007]

Isis Internacional. N.d. "Ecuador." http://www.isis.cl/temas/vi/catalog/ecu.htm [Accessed 5 Mar. 2007]

United States (US). 8 March 2006. Department of State. "Ecuador." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61726.htm [Accessed 9 Feb. 2007]

Oral Sources: The Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promocción y Acción de la Mujer (CEPAM), the Coordinadora Política de Mujeres Ecuatorianas (CPME) and the Dirección Nacional de Género did not provide information within the time constraints of this Response.

Internet sources, including: Amnesty International (AI), Canadian Crossroads International (CCI), Comisión Andina de Juristas, Derecho Ecuador, Diario Hoy [Quito], Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), El Mercurio [Cuenca, Ecuador], Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).