Not a cure. Not evidence-based treatment. In coercive settings, it can become torture.
PAHO/WHO states that attempts to “cure” non-heterosexual orientation have no medical justification and can seriously threaten health and well-being. The American Psychological Association uses SOCE and GICE to distinguish sexual-orientation and gender-identity change efforts from evidence-based psychotherapy.
Words matter
The practice can hide behind therapeutic, religious or rehabilitation language
Common term
Conversion therapy
An umbrella term for sustained attempts to discourage, suppress or change LGBTQ+ identities, orientations or gender expressions.
Clinical literature
SOCE / GICE / SOGICE
Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, Gender Identity Change Efforts, and the combined Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts.
Legacy language
“De-homosexualization”
In Ecuador, “deshomosexualización” and “sexual reorientation” became common terms for clinics or centers claiming they could change homosexuality or gender diversity.
Other labels
Reparative / ex-gay / faith-based
Conversion practices may also be presented as reparative therapy, ex-gay counseling, spiritual deliverance, gender correction, detoxification or addiction rehabilitation.
Documented cases in Ecuador
This is not an abstract policy debate
The milestones below draw on Silueta X / Centro Psico Trans archives, Ecuador’s Attorney General, international human-rights bodies and public investigative reporting. Allegations are identified as allegations unless an official judicial action is available.
2010 · Patate, Tungurahua
Jonathan Vásconez
The Centro Psico Trans archive preserves the public testimony of a trans man who said he was confined against his will in a rehabilitation center after relatives sought to change his gender identity. His account described abduction, beatings, handcuffing and other forms of abuse.
Historical archive2013 · Tena, Napo
Zulema C. and a hate-crime investigation
Ecuador’s Attorney General reported that Zulema C. had been forcibly confined in a rehabilitation center offering a supposed “cure” for homosexuality. Prosecutors opened an investigation for alleged hate-motivated violence following reports of physical and psychological abuse.
Attorney General source2018–2019 · Rescue appeal
Civil society called for intervention
Silueta X and Ecuadorian LGBTQ+ organizations publicly requested action for a person reportedly being held against their will in a center offering “de-homosexualization.” They asked authorities to activate an interinstitutional complaint-and-response route developed from presidential commitment 21525.
Historical Silueta X alert2021 · Chone, Manabí
Forced-confinement alerts involving trans people
Centro Psico Trans and allied organizations published separate alerts concerning trans people allegedly confined in conversion or torture centers in Chone. One communiqué described a trans woman who had reportedly been confined twice and asked state institutions to intervene.
2023 · Sury case
A survivor documented the inside of a center
An investigative report described Sury’s allegations of physical and sexual abuse in a center. The report states that Centro Psico Trans supported the case and disseminated evidence obtained by the survivor, after which police, the Ombudsman’s Office and prosecutors activated procedures to close the establishment and investigate.
Investigative report2024 · Judicial development
Seven people ordered to stand trial for alleged hate acts
In December 2024, Ecuador’s Attorney General announced that seven people had been ordered to stand trial over events in Chone in 2021. Prosecutors said the victim had been abducted by relatives and forcibly taken to a “rehabilitation clinic” in an attempt to “de-homosexualize” them.
Attorney General source
A current human-rights issue
Conversion practices did not disappear when the headlines did
In March 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights convened a regional hearing specifically on practices aimed at changing sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Civil-society organizations reported that such practices continue through religious, community and medical settings, with particular risks for children, adolescents and trans people.
Science and human-rights standards
The international question is no longer how to “change” LGBTQ+ people
The contemporary question is how to prevent coercion and harm, protect survivors, enforce accountability and provide affirmative psychological support.
Responsible documentation
How to flag a suspected conversion practice without putting someone at greater risk
Preserve public evidence
Keep public advertisements, screenshots, commercial names, city, date, visible phone numbers and exact language used to market a supposed “cure.” Do not publish survivor identities without consent.
Use official channels
Forced confinement, threats or abuse may require intervention by prosecutors, police, the Ombudsman’s Office, ACESS or other competent authorities. Do not confront a facility when doing so could endanger someone inside.
Share with Silueta X
Consultorio Jurídico X can receive information for orientation, documentation and referral. Receiving a report does not by itself establish that a crime occurred.
Consultorio Jurídico XInternational media & research
Ecuador has a long conversion-practice archive — and the story is still developing
Silueta X can provide historical context, public-source documentation, referrals to its legal and psychological programs, and background on the evolution from Centro Psico Trans to Centro Psico X.
Journalists and researchers should identify themselves, their outlet or institution, country, reporting angle and deadline. Survivor access is never automatic and must be handled with privacy and informed-consent safeguards.
Suggested reporting angles
Centro Psico Trans historical archive
Preserving the archive while the institution evolves
The former Centro Psico Trans website remains a historical source. Its terminology, service descriptions and campaigns reflect their period and should be read alongside the current Centro Psico X.
