By: Staff Writer
February 17, 2026
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a recent report that across 12 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region some two thirds of women have experienced some form of gender based violence.
The report, “Towards substantive gender equality and the care society: acting with urgency to ensure women’s and girls’ right to a life free from violence,” said: “Acting with urgency to address the pandemic of violence against women, adolescents and girls is fundamental. The prevalence of this grave and persistent violation of human rights remains high: national surveys conducted across 12 countries in recent years show that between 63 percent and 76 percent of women have experienced some form of gender-based violence.
“According to 2018 estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four women in the region has experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner at least once in her lifetime, while one in eight women has suffered sexual violence at the hands of someone who was not their partner.
“Women and girls experience gender-based violence throughout their lifetimes. It takes many forms and occurs in all spheres, “whether public or private, including in the contexts of the family, the community, public spaces, the workplace, leisure, politics, sport, health services and educational settings”, as well as “online and in other digital environments.”
Gender-based violence (GBV) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a critical, widespread issue, with one in three women aged 15-49 having experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner. The region faces high rates of femicide, particularly in Honduras, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic, alongside persistent, entrenched social norms and economic disparities that fuel violence.
The report also said: “The consolidation and integration of administrative records on complaints and assistance to victims of gender-based violence, linking of these records to prevalence surveys, and the inclusion of information on complaints, protection orders, prosecutions, convictions, and judicial timelines in completed and attempted femicides are fundamental in managing individual cases and coordinating timely responses.
“The interoperability of information systems —including judicial, police and health systems— is essential to ensure a coordinated response, prevent revictimization and strengthen the capacity of States to comply with due diligence obligations in each case.
“Information, when used as an accountability tool, will make it possible to assess the implementation and progress of public policies, as well as their results in relation to States’ compliance with due diligence obligations. To this end, it is essential to consolidate robust, sustainable and integrated information systems, with clear governance and strengthened technical capacities, that incorporate gender, intersectional and territorial perspectives in a cross-cutting manner.”