Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence and requires dedicated legal, institutional, data, and prevention responses. Spotlight Initiative addresses femicide through integrated approaches spanning legal reform, data generation, survivor services, and social norm change, with particular depth in Latin America where prevalence and institutional attention to the issue are both high.
In 2025, in Ecuador, 41 justice sector officials were trained under the National Protocol for the Investigation of Femicides and 15 agents were trained as institutional trainers to cascade these competencies across the justice sector. The femicide alert system was expanded to two additional provinces, increasing geographic coverage of early warning mechanisms. Pioneering tools for gender-sensitive disciplinary investigations within the police helped improve how violence against female police officers was handled, with a draft Ministerial Agreement prepared to support mandatory institutionalization of these standards.
Spotlight Initiative's comprehensive model ensures that efforts to eliminate femicide are reinforced across legal, institutional, and preventive dimensions, driving sustained progress toward accountability and justice for survivors and their families.
Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence and requires dedicated legal, institutional, data, and prevention responses. Spotlight Initiative addresses femicide through integrated approaches spanning legal reform, data generation, survivor services, and social norm change, with particular depth in Latin America where prevalence and institutional attention to the issue are both high.
In 2025, in Ecuador, 41 justice sector officials were trained under the National Protocol for the Investigation of Femicides and 15 agents were trained as institutional trainers to cascade these competencies across the justice sector. The femicide alert system was expanded to two additional provinces, increasing geographic coverage of early warning mechanisms. Pioneering tools for gender-sensitive disciplinary investigations within the police helped improve how violence against female police officers was handled, with a draft Ministerial Agreement prepared to support mandatory institutionalization of these standards.