Evidence and Legal Interpretation of Power Dynamics in Femicide [Prueba e interpretación jurídica de la relación de poder en el femicidio]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62574/rmpi.v6iespecial.510Keywords:
violence against women, criminal law, administration of justiceAbstract
The purpose of this article is to analyze the importance of evidence and legal interpretation regarding power dynamics in femicide cases in Ecuador. It employs a qualitative-interpretive approach with a documentary and field study design, utilizing structured interviews with a prosecutor from the Gender-Based Violence Unit and a criminal defense attorney from the Santo Domingo canton, selected through purposive sampling. The information was processed through hermeneutic analysis contrasted with specialized normative, doctrinal, and jurisprudential sources. The results show that justice system actors recognize the power relationship, although they limit their understanding to physical violence in intimate partner contexts, omitting psychological, economic, and structural forms of violence that are equally constitutive of the criminal offense. The absence of an operational definition in the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code compromises evidentiary accreditation and the correct legal classification of femicide in court proceedings.
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