Ecuador

For the past 50 years, PP Global has supported local organizations in Ecuador to advance sexual and reproductive rights and services. In that time, we have seen some historic changes. 

Ecuador’s progressive constitution supports a person’s right to decide freely how many and when to have children.  And because of the efforts of local advocacy groups — many of them Planned Parenthood Global’s partners — in 2021, Ecuador’s highest court finally decriminalized abortion in cases of rape. Planned Parenthood Global is proud to back many brave abortion rights activist groups, including our partner Desafio, that helped make this historic advance a reality. Read all about it here: “It's Legal! The Decriminalization of Abortion in Cases of Rape in Ecuador.” (ENG/SPN)

We still have much more work to do in Ecuador. The nation suffers from staggering teen pregnancy rates, rising sexual violence, and high maternal mortality. 

While abortion is permitted to preserve the life and health of the woman, and now in cases of rape, widespread stigma and misinformation about abortion persists, further limiting access to legal abortion.

• Every day, seven girls between 10 and 14 years old give birth in Ecuador.
• Ecuador has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America.
• The number of reported cases of sexual violence increased from 5,450 in 2020 to 6,200 in 2021 — and it’s still on an upswing.
• Ecuador needlessly loses $4.68 million a year because of the burden on the health system from complications from unsafe abortion.

Planned Parenthood Global continues to back our brave partners that are leading movements in Ecuador, including CEMOPLAF – the largest sexual and reproductive health care provider in the country. CEMOPLAF supports pioneering youth services through a youth peer provider network that provides thousands of teens with contraceptives and other services every year. In addition, CEMOPLAF is leveraging technology to educate youth nationally while promoting access to health care that guarantees women have control over their bodies.    

Planned Parenthood Global supports award-winning communications efforts such as innovative digital media outlets and the creation of a regional and national network of feminist reporters through the Festival Zarelia. At this event, communications specialists from all over Latin America discuss feminist journalism and gender issues and work to improve how news is reported. Increasingly responsive and accurate media reporting on girls who have survived sexual abuse and rape has transformed the public debate around abortion, bolstered by Planned Parenthood Global’s regional Niñas No Madres campaign. 

Strategic legal defense has been vital in Ecuador in supporting women who are seeking a legal abortion. Planned Parenthood Global provided the seed funding and technical support to launch Surkuna, the country’s first organization dedicated to the legal support and defense of women criminalized for pregnancy and abortion related issues. Nationally, Surkuna advocates for access to legal abortion through research, their national support hotline, and medical and legal professional trainings.