[Violence in the family: Ecuadorian experience in the formulation of policies for health services].

Since 1995, PAHO has been carrying out in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru a project known as "Violence against Women and Girls: Proposal to Establish Community-coordinated Interventions in Three Countries of the Andean Subregion." Its purpose is to support initiatives being conducted by various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, and social institutions in an attempt to improve the status of women. One of its objectives is to formulate public policies and local services aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and girls through local action networks, data-gathering systems, and legal proposals. This article examines what the initiative has achieved so far in Ecuador, in efforts conducted in Quito, Guayaquil, and Sigsig with the support of three national NGOs and in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the National Women's Council.