Gender inequality in El Salvador
[1][2][3] Although women in El Salvador enjoy equal protection under the law, they are often at a disadvantage relative to their male counterparts.
Though much progress has been made since the Salvadoran Civil War ended in 1992, women in El Salvador still face gender inequality.
[7] Although CEDAW may be correct in referring to El Salvador's lack of implementation, the Salvadoran Constitution does address the issue of discrimination.
The Institute seeks to ensure that action plans created by the government to protect women are implemented effectively.
[9] In 2015, the maternal mortality ratio in El Salvador was 54 deaths/100,000 live births and the total fertility rate was 1.91 children born/woman.
They were against it except when the health of the mother is in danger, but after strong opposition and not winning an election since its founding, the FMLN switched its stance and allowed their representatives to "vote their conscience".
In 1999, a constitutional amendment was passed, putting in place the current policy, with 72 favorable votes in a legislative assembly of 84 members.
[11] During the abortion debate, dialogue between opposing sides brought to light the state of gender inequality in the country.
In "The Left and Life in El Salvador," Jocelyn Viterna points out that such views powerfully ignore the reality for many Salvadoran women, given that many of them have little control over their own sexual encounters.
[12] As in other Latin American countries, cohabitation is very common, with formal marriage being practised by the upper classes.
[4] Women in El Salvador are employed at lower rates than men, and on average make less in wages compared to their male counterparts.
The report cites some of the violations as lack of access to social security and maternity benefits, poor working conditions, and exposure to violence and sexual harassment.
Scholars such as Linda Lim and Naila Kabeer argue that the maquila sector has not had a negative effect on women.
In 1990, Lim argued that maquiladoras offer women a good alternative and an opportunity to work in the formal sector.
[23] They say that the low levels of income earned by female workers acts as only a means of survival and does not allow them to "question the patriarchal gender order".
In El Salvador, conditional cash transfers are one component of Red Solidaria, the main welfare program aimed at helping the country's poorest population.
Upon its enactment in 2005, Red Solidaria brought into effect conditional cash transfers targeted to families with pregnant women and children under 15 years old who had not received education beyond the 6th grade.
[25] While Juliana Franzoni and Koen Voorend acknowledge the positive effects that CCTs had on poverty reduction and enhanced income inequality, they argue that the transfers did little to impact unequal gender relations.
With support from the United Nations Democracy Fund, the Association offers training and resources to women looking to get involved in politics.
The report says that estimation of the exact prevalence of the problem is difficult because of how much it is underreported, but there were 367 complaints of sexual harassment through July 2010, which resulted in 138 trials, and only 11 convictions.
Furthermore, according to a national survey in 2017, 67% of Salvadorian women have suffered some form of violence, sexual assault or abuse in their lifetime by their intimate partners or family members.
In a study done by the Pan-American Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, 26.3% of women in El Salvador reported that they had experienced some sort of physical or sexual violence from their partners.
[37] The underreporting of incidents may be due to the fact that in 2010 domestic violence was considered socially acceptable by a large portion of the population.
[36] One cultural challenge that El Salvador faces in moving towards gender equality in the home is that of machismo, which is strong, or aggressive masculine pride.
