Ley para prevenir y erradicar la violencia contra las mujeres: perspectivas y experiencias de policías judiciales

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to give an apt description of the perspectives and experiences that judicial policemen had in regard with the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women Act. All 8 policemen from the Department of Intrafamilial Violence (DEVIF) of Azuay; located in the Specialized Judicial Unit against Women and Familial Violence in Cuenca, within the Judicial Complex of Azuay; were worked with. A semistructured interview with 5 basic questions was used as a data collection method. This investigation had a qualitative, exploratory approach as well as a transversal research design because the law was passed in 2018 and there was no previous research on the subject in the area of Social Psychology in Ecuador. The results showed that from the judicial police's perspective, the law has made significant changes in what is understood by violence. This has been noted by the establishing of sanctions for the different ways in which it is manifested. However, there are inconsistencies in their compliance, and they point out that one of the reasons for this may be due to ignorance and to the lack of inter-institutional articulation. In regard to their personal experiences, there has been an increase in the amount of work to do and this has affected them physically and emotionally. Given that the law is relatively new, it is recommended to conduct multidisciplinary studies with other departments that are part of the National Police of Ecuador and that have contact with women victims of violence.