Salvadoran Legislative Assembly. In El Salvador, women have faced notable underrepresentation in government roles, highlighting an enduring disparity in political leadership. This imbalance underscores persistent barriers to female participation in shaping the country’s governance and policies.
Despite strides toward gender equality, the limited presence of women in governmental positions underscores systemic challenges and the imperative for inclusive policymaking.
This low representation of women in Government in El Salvador continues in the 2024-2027 governmental period in both the legislative branch of government and municipality governments. Women will have low representation, with only 19 deputies and 8 municipality mayors.
Women in the 2024-2027 Legislative Assembly
Women will have limited representation in the 2024-2027 legislative assembly; this institution is vital in the country’s governance, responsible for crafting laws, overseeing governmental affairs, and representing the interests of its citizens.
Nevertheless, for the 2024-2027 legislature, only 19 out of 60 seats will be held by female deputies, making up 31.7% of the total composition. These 19 women represent three political parties: 17 from New Ideas, 1 from ARENA, and 1 from VAMOS.
| Political Party | Department | |
|---|---|---|
| Nancy Alfaro | NI | Cabañas |
| Janneth Molina | NI | Cuscatlan |
| Sharon Salazar | NI | La Libertad |
| Sandra Interiano | NI | La Libertad |
| Norma Lobo | NI | La Libertad |
| Alexia Rivas | NI | San Salvador |
| Suecy Callejas | NI | San Salvador |
| Dania Gonzalez | NI | San Salvador |
| Elisa Rosales | NI | San Salvador |
| Ana Figueroa | NI | San Salvador |
| Diana Fuentes | NI | San Salvador |
| Claudia Ortiz | VAMOS | San Salvador |
| Marcela Villatoro | ARENA | San Salvador |
| Helen Jovel | NI | San Vicente |
| Lorena Fuentes | NI | Santa Ana |
| Claudia Toleda | NI | Santa Ana |
| Evelyn Merlos | NI | Santa Ana |
| Johana Hernandez | NI | Usulutan |
| Maricela de Guardado | NI | Usulutan |
The 19 female deputies represent 31.7%, a higher percentage than the previous legislature, which had a 27.4% female representation.
Although female representation in the 2024-27 legislature is higher than the previous one, civil society organizations, such as Citizen Action and the Association of Councilors and Mayors of El Salvador (ANDRYSAS), describe it as a regression.
Women Municipal Mayors in the 2024-2027 Period
The representation of women in municipal government leadership is even lower during the 2024-2027 period. Among 44 municipal governments, only 8 will be led by female mayors, constituting 18.2%.
| Political Party | Municipality | Department | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guadalupe Campos | NI | Cuscatlan South | Cuscatlan |
| Janet Gonzalez | GANA | La Libertad West | La Libertad |
| Milagro Navas | ARENA | La Libertad East | La Libertad |
| Marcela Pineda | NI | La Paz East | La Paz |
| Victoria Gutierrez | NI | La Union South | La Union |
| Carolina Escobar | NI | Santa Ana East | Santa Ana |
| Luz Maria Cruz Torres | FS | Usulutan North | Usulutan |
| Noemi Alfaro | NI | Usulutan West | Usulutan |
Milagro Navas, mayor of La Libertad East, is the leading female mayor; she has been serving consecutive terms as municipality mayor under the ARENA political party since 1988.
SEE ALSO: 2024 Salvadoran Presidential Elections: Nayib Bukele Wins With 84.65% of the Votes
The Challenges for Women Reaching Government Positions in El Salvador
In El Salvador, women encounter numerous obstacles while trying to reach publicly elected governmental positions. Cultural norms, limited access to resources, and other systemic barriers perpetuate gender inequality in politics.
However, political violence against women, a paramount reason that discourages women from seeking public office, has taken center stage in the last few elections.
This violence is more apparent on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and was particularly more noticeable during the 2024 elections.
During the 2024 elections, female candidates or women members of political parties were subject to attacks on social networks. Some of the most common attacks against these women in politics included humiliation, sexualized jokes, defamation, harassment, insults, ridicule of their appearance, and comments about their private lives.
In the 2024 elections, women in politics from all different political parties received attacks on social media platforms. Also, these attacks were committed by both males and females.
Consequently, some women may commit gender violence against another woman by perceiving that a person of the same sex is competition, reaching the point of becoming aggressors. Women are often victims of other women who discredit their work and effort for personal ambitions. Ondina Ramos, ARENA deputy candidate.
Political violence against women remains a significant obstacle, deterring their involvement in politics and pursuit of governmental positions. If something doesn’t change, women will continue to have low representation in government, as is the case for the 2024-2027 government period.
