November 25th, 2010

November 25th, 2010, Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The Law for a Life Free of Violence for Women in El Salvador is approved. As the country with the number one rate of femicides in the world, its about time something changes.  Hopefully this law will actually be enacted.  

Here is why...

On October 21st, on the Las Quebradas finca, in the municipality of Talnique, La Libertad, the bodies of Clarisa Ortiz Valle,14 years old; Julia Araceli Hernández Torres, 14 years old;  María Vicenta Ávalos Pérez, 15 years old and Georgina Lisseth Álvarez Cruz, 18 years old, were found stangled and maimed at the hands of supposed friends of theirs.

In the past ten years in El Salvador, violence against women has increased by 197%, making it the number one place for femicides in the world, with 129.46 assassinations per one million women.

According to the Second National Report of the Situation of Violence Against Women in El Salvador, put out by the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women (ISDEMU), between January 1st and November 5, 2010, the ISDEMU saw 6,320 cases of violence against women.  Among those including: domestic violence, child abuse, sexual harrassment and abuse, labor abuse, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Of the 477 femicides registered in 2010, 74 were under the age of 17, thirteen were tortured, 14 were burned and 8 were decapitated. These are the characteristics of femicides in El Salvador.

In 2007, approximately every 73 hours a woman was assassinated, in 2009, it was every 31 hours and in 2010 , every 13 hours a woman was assassinated.

According to the ISDEMU document, in 2010, 702 women have been victims of sexual aggression, 4,230 have suffered from domestic violence, and 1,325 young girls were abused.

In 2008, in the town of Apastapeque, two men were convicted for raping a 14 month old little girl.

85% of the cases of violence denounced happened in the home or in the victim’s community. 47.96% of those cases occured in the home, and 14.38% in the homes of aquantainces.

According to the ISDEMU, 76% of women victims of sexual aggresion are under the age of 19.

According to the National Morgue, the most vulnerable age group for sexual aggression is girls between the age of 10 and 14.

Of 6,803 cases of sexual crimes against women in 2008 and 2009, only 436 of the victimizers were condemned with a crime.

According to the women’s organization, Las Dignas, of 119 labor violation denouncements that they received in 2009, 52 were for unjust job termination and 13 for sexual harassment in the work place.

In El Salvador, men earn 14% more than women.

In El Salvador, of 84 National Assembly representatives, only 16 are women.

Yes...time for things to change.