Legal and social perspectives of acid attacks in Ecuadorian legislation.

Abstract

This study addresses the need to criminalize acid attacks as a stand-alone crime in Ecuador's Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP), highlighting its legal, social, and psychological implications. Using a mixed methodology, qualitative and quantitative data were collected to analyze the current legal framework, perceptions of legal professionals, victims' experiences, and international best practices. In the first stage, a comprehensive review of Ecuadorian and other countries' legislation was conducted, identifying key elements that could be adapted to the local context. Subsequently, surveys were applied to criminal lawyers, selected through non-probabilistic sampling, to explore their opinions on the relevance of a stand-alone criminalization, current legal deficiencies, and evidentiary challenges in these cases. The results reveal consensus among lawyers on the need to establish a stand-alone criminalization that contemplates specific criteria such as intent, use of corrosive substances, and irreversible damage. In addition, important deficiencies in the current framework were identified, including insufficient penalties and evidentiary challenges. Finally, a legal reform is proposed that would criminalize these attacks, establish proportional sanctions and comprehensive reparation mechanisms, and promote prevention through the regulation of chemical substances and public awareness.

Keywords:

Damage, Sanctions, Violence, Consequences.