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Good practice Imported

Bájale al Acoso — Free SMS Harassment Reporting on Quito's Public Transport

Ecuador · Quito · See the Ecuador profile · See the Quito profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 32% 78/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Launched March 2017 under UN Women's global Safe Cities programme, Quito's 'Bájale al Acoso' lets riders text 'ACOSO' plus a bus number free to 6367; over 2,700 reports have reached a dedicated support team, with 43 cases referred to prosecutors and 10 convictions.

2,700+
Reports of sexual violence received
43
Cases escalated to the Prosecutor-General's office
10 convictions
Convictions resulting from escalated cases (sentences 12-36 months)
Bájale al Acoso — Free SMS Harassment Reporting on Quito's Public Transport

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Municipal Patronato San José (Municipality of Quito) with UN Women
Period
2017–present
Keywords
public transport, municipal government, GBV prevention

Context

Bájale al Acoso is a free SMS reporting system for sexual harassment on Quito's public transport, launched in March 2017 by the Municipal Patronato San José with UN Women as part of UN Women's global Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces programme.

Activities

A victim or witness sends the word 'ACOSO' and the vehicle's unit number, free of charge, to short code 6367; reports trigger a response from a multidisciplinary team covering legal, psychological, security and social-work support. First deployed across 120 units of the metropolitan bus network, the system has since reached close to 100% of Quito's public transport fleet and roughly 80% of private operators.

Results

By the most recent published figures, the platform had received more than 2,700 reports of sexual violence, of which 43 cases were escalated to the Prosecutor-General's office, resulting in 10 convictions with sentences of 12-36 months.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Municipal Patronato San José (Municipality of Quito), UN Women, multidisciplinary response team (legal, psychological, security, social work)

Conditions for success

  • free short-code SMS integrated across nearly the entire public transport fleet and most private operators
  • multidisciplinary team triaging every report

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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