The women face more economic obstacles, logistics and relatives to start your business That men.
Although Ecuador is one of the countries with high participation from women in entrepreneurship, the access a microcredits is still a pending issue and is another side of the gender violence.
This problem has already been identified by Margaret Hernandez, Superintendent of Popular and Solidarity Economy (SEPS). She explains that in the distribution of partners of the organizations what and parity Come in mens and women. However, members save more and receive less credit, both in number of operations as in amount.
According to the control body, as of June 2021, 49% of depositors in the Popular and Solidarity Financial System she was a woman. Their deposits they amounted to USD 6 102 million compared to USD 5 497 million in men’s deposits.
At women They were granted credits for USD 1 638 million and that the men accessed USD 2 349 million.
Faced with this marked difference, we seek to work in a financial inclusion with gender perspective. Hernández says that one of the main barriers is the access and limited use of financial services.
Women do not seek credit for ignorance, the difficulty in obtaining them and the negative perception of the interests, Hernández points out.
A SEPS study reveals that the gender gap in access to credit exceeds 14% and is increasing. In other words, the number of credits granted to women is decreasing, meanwhile, in men it continues to rise.
Sofía González is a founding partner of Mama Tungurahua. This venture emerged in 2012 when she was fired from her job, after staying pregnant. Together with his sister, he began to work in a Foundation in Baños that received contributions from a North American donor.
With this person he learned how to make the soaps, balms and friendly creams with the planet, which now trades in Mama Tungurahua.
One of its obstacles has been precisely the access to a microcredit. With the covid-19 situation, he says, it is too risky.
In addition, the high interest rates do not favor. During 2020 sales rose, but now, the levels have fallen drastically and he is looking for alternatives.
Sofía Silva Ulloa created Colorín toys six years ago. These spark children’s creativity through art, as they include paintable plush toys.
She has tried to get loans to make improvements to her business, but it has not done so for fear of interest. The requirements they ask are also a limitation.
Daiana Benítez, designer of La Potra, You do not know about the credits that you could access and would like more information. This entrepreneur created the La Potra lingerie line to reach women “with real bodies”.
Benítez is a volunteer of the Violet Economy Women’s Network, where he has been able to support and see the different difficulties that her companions face in each area.
For Hernández it is important that entities design financial products thought about the needs of women. This would allow greater access and confidence to approach these entities.
This reality is also connected with gender violence. Aristides Vara-Horna He is a researcher and author of the study. The costs of violence against women in micro-enterprises from Ecuador.
Among the conclusions of his analysis, he reveals that 55 out of 100 women who have businesses in the country have been attacked by their partner and 74 out of 100 have had a Physical damage O emotional. This impact means that the entrepreneurs stop working for days and that is equivalent to a loss of 20% of net income.
That is, for every USD 100 they sell, they lose 20. These data are part of this study, which was born from the Previmujer program, from theGerman Cooperation (GIZ) in Ecuador.
Vara-Horna mentions that women have more difficulties and banks often do not understand this reality. Asking her husband’s signature to obtain a loan, for example, can result in an event that excludes the woman from access to financial service.
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