El Salvador's State of Exception: Women Pay High Price
El Salvador's State of Exception, renewed monthly for over three years, has led to over 90,000 arrests. This includes the tragic deaths of at least three babies due to lack of prenatal care in prisons. Women bear the brunt of supporting their incarcerated loved ones, often spending entire days in line to provide food, clothing, and hygiene products. Meanwhile, women's rights activists face repression, with intimidation, stalking, surveillance, and online harassment from state-sponsored troll farms. The government targets activist organizations through strict financial audits and office raids.
Since 2019, President Nayib Bukele has been criticized for measures that restrict democratic freedoms and human rights, particularly those of women. Extreme anti-abortion laws, high rates of violence, and lack of transparency in state actions have exacerbated the situation. Despite Bukele's claims of making El Salvador the safest country in the Western hemisphere under the State of Exception, women report ongoing violence. Rates of sexual violence have increased since the State of Exception was declared, according to local women's rights organizations like ORMUSA. Women also fear the police and military who patrol their neighborhoods with impunity.
Women's rights activists in El Salvador, such as Bertha de D’Escanio, Sara García, Morena Herrera, Celina Monterrosa, and Silvia Juárez, along with organizations like Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto and ORMUSA, continue to fight for women's rights despite facing repression and shrinking civil space. They criticize the absolute abortion ban, high femicide rates, repression of social protests, and lack of transparency in state actions. International organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also condemned El Salvador's handling of women's rights and civil society.
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