Salto gender-based violence service faces shutdown due to funding delays

Departmental Deputy Lucía Minutti has warned the Salto Departmental Board of an imminent paralysis of the Gender-Based Violence Service managed by Inmujeres-MIDES. The service, which has operated without interruption for 17 years, faces a total shutdown for the second time this year due to unpaid funds from MIDES to the managing Civil Society Organization (OSC).

The funding delay has prevented the payment of technical staff salaries for July and threatens to impact August wages. The service is critical to regional safety, managing between 130 and 150 female users monthly—90 of whom require continuous psychosocial and legal follow-up—and addressing 70 to 80 men referred by the justice system for violent behavior.

Beyond direct assistance, the service plays a vital role in risk assessment and monitoring cases involving electronic tracking devices. A cessation of services would leave hundreds of women and children unprotected and disrupt institutional coordination with the Judiciary, Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of the Interior, ASSE, INAU, and local police stations. Minutti has called for the immediate regularization of payments and requested oversight from national human rights authorities.