Quito , Ecuador ( CNN ) -- Paola Concha is openly homosexual and is not afraid to speak about her sexual orientation publicly . But the 28-year-old Ecuadorian woman says her family did n't feel the same way . Five years ago , when she was 23 , she says , her family contacted a center that promised to cure Concha of her homosexuality . That , she says , is when her nightmare started . `` On December 8 of 2006 , they stormed into my house , overpowered me , they put me inside a van and took me to a so-called 'therapeutic ' center . By the time I got there , I was already handcuffed and beat up , '' Concha said . The clinic was called Puente a la Vida , or Bridge to Life . In December , CNN was granted limited access to the clinic . It looked like a mid-level tourist resort with buildings , houses and meeting rooms where patients were treated . The facility is located on the outskirts of Quito , Ecuador 's capital . Concha says she endured all kinds of demeaning and abusive treatment during the 18 months she was held there . `` I was kept in handcuffs for more than three months . I would be left without food for more than three or four days . They would handcuff me in a bathroom to a toilet bowl facing a toilet that was used by 60 people at the center , '' Concha said . While we were there in December , one of the clinic 's directors by the name of Luis Zavala declined to speak specifically about Concha 's allegations . But he did deny that their goal was to change the sexual orientation of their patients . Their objective , Zavala said , was `` to modify all inadequate behaviors that are causing a particular individual to take inadequate attitudes . '' Government officials say this case is not isolated . In fact , they have found dozens of clinics that illegally offer treatments to `` cure '' homosexuality . Some of these clinics operate as addiction treatment centers , but they offer homosexuality cures in a clandestine way . Some are located in urban settings , officials say , but many others are set up in ranches or houses in remote areas and attract clients by word of mouth . After the first allegations were made , Bridge to Life was targeted for an investigation last year . But officials could get only enough evidence to cite the clinic on a technicality . `` They say they found expired products . I would venture to say that the government has an ulterior motive , '' Zavala said . Juan Moreira , Ecuador 's undersecretary of health , says expired products were indeed found in the women 's area of the clinic , so they closed that section . But that was only the beginning . `` That was really not the most serious violation , '' Moreira said . `` What concerns us is that we have reports about their methods to change a person 's sexual orientation and treatments that include torture and human rights violations . '' Since CNN visited Bridge to Life , the Ecuadorian government says , two raids were conducted at the clinic . More than 40 people were freed and the clinic was finally shut down for alleged human rights violations . Moreira says people being held there were reluctant to speak at first , apparently afraid of being punished by clinic personnel if they spoke about the treatment center in a negative way . But then , one by one , patients started telling investigators horror stories . Their testimonies , Moreira says , mirror Paola Concha 's story . After the clinic was shut down , CNN 's efforts to reach its director , Zavala , for a comment have been unsuccessful . Meanwhile , Concha has become a spokeswoman for the movement against clinics that claim to cure homosexuality and is working with organizations that aim to raise awareness on this issue . One such organization is Artikulacion Esporadika , a gay rights group in Quito . Cayetana Salao , the organization 's director , says that thanks in part to their efforts on this issue , the government has investigated and shut down 30 such clinics since July . `` These are all private clinics . They reflect our society 's biases and misconception about homosexuality . We still have a lot of homophobia and misogyny , '' Salao said . `` Many people still consider lesbianism a disease and a psychiatric disorder . '' A change in leadership at the Health Ministry is also good news for gay rights organizations . Carina Vance , a former executive director of Fundacion Causana , a gay rights group , and a respected gay rights activist in Ecuador , was named health minister earlier this month . Under her leadership , three raids have already taken place in the Quito area , and dozens of women have been rescued . Moreira , the health undersecretary , says new regulations for addiction treatment centers were implemented last year . Out of 302 centers they have investigated , 208 , or 69 percent , were found to be in violation of one or more of the new regulations . The government , Moreira says , is aggressively investigating reports of clinics supposedly offering to cure homosexuality . As a matter of policy , the undersecretary says , Ecuador does not recognize it as a disease and therefore anybody offering to `` cure '' it is in violation of the law .
Ana María says she was beaten at clinic trying to ` ` cure '' her homosexuality . The clinic director denies they tried to change sexual orientation . The Ecuadorian government says other people 's rights support Concha 's . More than 30 such clinics have been shut down since July , an activist says .