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Good practice

Uruguay's Comprehensive Law on Gender-Based Violence (Ley N° 19.580, 2017)

Uruguay · Montevideo · See the Uruguay profile

Uruguay's Law 19.580 (2017) defines 20+ GBV forms — including femicide, obstetric and digital violence. Creates a GBV Observatory and specialised courts. 17,280 cases handled in 2022; courts remain under-resourced per the 2023 US State Department report.

17280
GBV cases handled by specialised courts (2022)
35443
Reports of violence against women
16
Femicide cases

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Uruguay National Institute of Women – INMUJERES (Ministry of Social Development)
Period
2017–present
Keywords
social protection, justice, gender equality, public administration

Context

Uruguay's Law 19.580 (2017), replacing an earlier 1990s law, defines 20+ forms of gender-based violence — including symbolic, obstetric, digital and trans-specific violence — mandates a GBV Observatory, and requires specialised courts in every department, coordinated by INMUJERES.

Results

In 2022, specialised courts handled 17,280 cases, and the Ministry of the Interior recorded 35,443 reports of violence against women and 16 femicide cases.

Conclusions

The US State Department's 2023 Human Rights Report notes persistent under-resourcing of the specialised courts and implementation resistance to obstetric-violence provisions; reporting rose after the law passed but femicide numbers have not shown a consistent downward trend.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

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

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