Luis Tobar-Pesántez, Santiago Solano-Gallegos
Historically, poverty has been discussed around the world from different perspectives. However, we all agree that poverty does not only mean a lack of monetary resources which impede people and their families to acquire goods and services to meet their primary needs, its definition goes beyond that, it is about discovering if families have access to health, basic services, good education, a decent home, if they are exposed to insecurity, if they are affected by corruption, and so on. In this regard, since 2010 Universidad Politécnica Salesiana in partnership with Universidad Silva Enriquez de Chile has conducted research about poor people’s perception of a group of fourteen rights and needs in the city of Cuenca-Ecuador. This research presents, according to the country’s current situation, the results of the indicator that measures the perception of corruption. The longitudinal study is based on the application of a structured survey on a representative sample with a high confidence level. The analysis demonstrates that vulnerable sectors have historically been affected by corruption both in the public and private sector.