A group of about 20 Salvadoran women raised their voices this Tuesday against the lack of strategies and policies to prevent violence against women, and against the implementation of a state of emergency regime in the Central American country, through which hundreds of 'innocents' have been detained.
The women gathered in front of the National Palace and then marched to the entrance of the National Library, in the heart of the Salvadoran capital, as part of an action for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
With signs and banners, the Salvadoran women protested the lack of policies in El Salvador to prevent violence against them, the government's 'silence' and 'denial' in cases of femicides and assaults, and the 'concealment' of public information and statistics on violence cases.
Marisela Ramírez, an attendee of the gathering and a member of the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc, told EFE that it is 'urgent to restore the policies, programs, and projects that were in place before (Nayib) Bukele's arrival to guarantee and protect the rights of women.'
Repeal of the regime Ramírez also indicated that the repeal of the state of emergency is another demand of Salvadoran women on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, as she stated that at least 7,000 women are 'unjustly detained, as they are innocent.'
Furthermore, she denounced that 'women detained under this regime have suffered sexual violence by police officers and military elements,' and that 'the government does not want to admit that there is a whole institutionalization of sexual violence against women.'
The state of emergency regime, accused of violating rights, has left more than 89,900 detainees and was approved after the murder of more than eighty people in one weekend at the end of March 2022. Journalistic investigations indicate that this was due to the rupture of a pact between the government of President Nayib Bukele and criminal gangs.
Returning to the general information, it should be noted that according to women's rights organizations, at least 24 femicides were registered in El Salvador so far this year, 12 of which were perpetrated by partners or former partners of the victims. Throughout 2024, women's organizations counted 38 femicides in El Salvador.
'There is a profound regression in this society because the government refuses to give clear and conclusive information about what is happening in the country,' she stated. The young woman added that 'every year that passes, we are identifying that we are losing more rights' and 'that undermines all the conditions in which we develop.'
