Ecuador women turn to boxing to fight sexual violence

After surviving a harrowing rape attempt, Any Hurtado took up boxing and found herself surrounded by other Ecuadoran women using their fists for protection in a country torn by sexual violence. Statistics paint a disturbing picture of the threats women face in the South American country: six out of every 10 have been the victims of gender-based aggression, and one girl in 10 suffers sexual abuse before the age of 18.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time. I think about what it would have been like then if I were the way I am now, a boxer. I’d have hit him hard.

Tania Lara, a 27-year-old domestic worker whose ex-husband used to beat her

The La Tola gym began offering training for women boxers 10 years ago. Since then, a growing number have taken advantage of the classes — about five a day currently. That reflects a natural response to the dangers women face in Ecuador, said Santiago Castellanos, a psychologist at the Latin American Social Sciences Faculty who specializes in gender studies. “We live in a society where the public space is often safer for men than women,” he said.

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