In Nicaragua, despite the presence of numerous applicable laws, combating violence against women and their lack of access to economic resources have not been a priority for the State.
In many cases there is a wide gap between existing national laws and practices: this element that makes it even more complex, especially in rural and remote areas of the country, the elimination of violence and discrimination. According to the latest available official data (Statistical Yearbook 2014), there have been 15,458 cases of crimes against life, physical integrity and personal safety. About 20% of these crimes occurred in the departments of Matagalpa and Jinotega. In addition, in 2014 the offenses for domestic/sexual violence made up over 90% of cases. 62% of women victims are aged between 16 and 35 years, 55% of aggressors are spouses or former spouses. Very often the violence occurs in the home and in most cases the victims do not report the incident. The violence also impacts on the economy: the labor market is characterized by strong gender discrimination. Even when women have the same characteristics of men (number of years of education and education, age or occupation) they perceive a lower income for the mere fact of being women. The planned measures primarily aim to break those social schemes that induce violent and discriminatory behavior. The intent is to create a cultural and social change, through three components: prevention, awareness and economic independence as a means of improving the quality of life of women and for their active development within the society.