They remain relegated to an inferior position in their participation in society, in politics, at work, in wages and in educational, economic and social decisions.
Luis Beatón
El Salvador is home to 6,557,236 people (47.5 per cent), 3,111,463 men and 3,445,772 women (52.5 per cent).
But although they are in the majority, they earn less than men. On average, men receive a monthly salary of 400 dollars and women 344. Given that the minimum wage in the country is approximately 365, women receive less, according to a study published by Ormusa. In 10 occupational groups where they are at a disadvantage, those of officials in the executive and legislative branches, professionals, scientists and intellectuals, technicians and mid-level professionals, among others, stand out.
In addition, they tend to have lower quality jobs compared to men, sometimes despite being better educated, according to the study. In this segment, El Salvador ranks 13th out of 17, with a wider gender gap than other Latin American countries.
A look at women in politics shows that in the current government there is good progress with women occupying important ministries such as Tourism, Economy, Housing, Foreign Affairs and until a few months ago Culture, now in the hands of a man. A law in the country states that women should hold at least 30 per cent of elected posts, but this has not yet been implemented.
For example, 82% of mayors in El Salvador are men. For the period 2024-2027, there are 36 male-dominated mayoralties, while only 8 are women, which is a sign of the inequality they face and which is also manifested in the other positions within the municipal councils. In terms of work, women have a high participation in the informal sector (72%), compared to 56% of men.
Furthermore, Salvadoran women have only recently entered the labour market and represent the highest level of illiteracy, and there are strong gender inequalities in terms of educational quality, levels of education and areas of training.
One of the problems facing women is the marked regression in sex education, with religious discourse promoting the criminalisation of abortion and harassment.
On the other hand, according to reports from the Gender Violence Observatory of the Organisation of Salvadoran Women for Peace (Ormusa), at least 21 feminicides have been registered in 2024. At least eight of these cases were perpetrated by partners and ex-partners of the victims who tried to punish, possess and sometimes almost enslave their life partners, according to the reports.
Another issue is abortion. In 2018, when Nayib Bukele was a presidential candidate, he participated in a conversation where he declared that ‘on the issue of abortion, we only agree when the mother’s life is at risk’ and that women with more resources are not questioned when they have miscarriages.
He was booed, according to reports at the time. A few months later, his speech changed radically: he went on to call abortion ‘genocide’. It is somewhat abusive that there is no possibility of discussing the legalisation of abortion in El Salvador. El Salvador punishes termination of pregnancy with up to 50 years in prison, which mainly affects poor women who are subjected to torture and judicial harassment, even for having miscarriages. PL
(Translated by Cristina Popa – Email: gcpopa83@gmail.com) –Photos: Pixabay
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