Domestic violence against children: institutional responses

Despite the alarming incidence of violence against children, at least in Ecuador, the issue had not been the object of serious investigation, neither in quantitative nor qualitative terms. Intervention only very rarely produces adequate results, and neither do indiscriminate complaints to law-enforcement authorities. There is an urgent need to set up instances for comprehensive support, in order to work with the affected families, including the aggressor, and, in the more serious cases, seek restorative justice that considers both the victims and the perpetrators. Only then it will be possible to avoid the circle of re-victimization and offer guidelines for genuine prevention.