This past week, hundreds of Salvadoran women raised their voices and conducted protests in commemoration of International Women’s Day.
Numerous women’s rights advocacy organizations took to the streets from March 8 onwards, marching throughout the weekend. Their objective was to remind the current administration of the historical obligation owed by the Salvadoran State to women.
Organized women who marched denounced that the international image promoted by the government that El Salvador is “the coolest country in the world” does not correspond to the reality of Salvadoran women.
Women’s advocacy organizations state that femicides in El Salvador haven’t stopped. 2023 closed with 47 homicides in the middle of the State of emergency.
Women during the march remarked that “Salvadoran families are waiting for justice while the Government has tried to hide it with the narrative that they women are safer, but the reality is that girls and women continue to die for being women.”
Zaira Navas of Cristosal published on her X account that “femicides do not stop if we remain silent.” Nava’s message mentions that “3 girls were victims of femicide in recent months.”
“October 2023: 7-year-old girl. January 2024: 7-year-old girl and 3-year-old girl. They had the right to play, grow, educate themselves, and decide, but their attackers took their lives,” stated Navas.
Although they hide the information, we know that they do not investigate because the lives of girls and women have never mattered to them. The families of the missing and murdered deserve a response from the State and the Government. We will continue raising our voices until we get a response! Roxana Rodríguez.
According to Alharaca, a Salvadoran Feminist digital media outlet, “The attendees expressed their concern about the dismantling of the ISDEMU, the threat to the fundamental rights of women, the violations of rights due to the emergency regime, and the setback in comprehensive education and sexual and reproductive health.”
The posters visible during the march exposed all types of complaints, from human rights violations during the State of Exception to the unconstitutional re-election of Nayib Bukele.
Just days ago, Salvadoran legislators extended the State of Emergency for the 23rd consecutive time. Also, President Bukele got re-elected on February 4 in a landslide victory.
