SUPPLEMENTARY ANALYSES GENDER AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION STRATEGY FY 2020-2024
June 2019 This publication was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by ME&A and its team consisting of: Margarita Sánchez, Team Leader; Vanessa Pocasangre, Gender Specialist; Geraldina Zaldaña, Social Inclusion Specialist; Marvin Flamenco, Research Assistant; and Karla García, Data Analysis Specialist.
GENDER AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS
COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION STRATEGY
FY 2020-2024
Supplementary Analyses
Submitted: June 10, 2019
Prepared for the United States Agency for International Development under AID-OAA-I-15-00024/TOAID-519-TO-16-00002 USAID/El Salvador
Contact: Orlando Hidalgo [email protected]
Prepared by: Margarita Sánchez (ME&A), Team Leader Vanessa Pocasangre (ME&A), Gender Specialist Geraldina Zaldaña (ME&A), Social Inclusion Specialist Marvin Flamenco (ME&A), Research Assistant Karla García (ME&A), Data Analysis Specialist
Submitted by: USAID Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Initiative implemented by ME&A Inc,
Cover photo: “Exchange of good practices for labor inclusion of people with disabilities,” workshop conducted by Colombian experts and organized by USAID’s Bridges to Employment Activity with the support of USAID’s Regional Trilateral Cooperation Activity. May 2019. Photo courtesy of Bridges to Employment Activity.
DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
CONTENTS I. WOMEN IN EL SALVADOR ...... 1 1.0 BACKGROUND ...... 1 2.0 FINDINGS ...... 1 2.1 Domain I: Legal and Normative Framework ...... 1 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms ...... 3 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Human Rights ...... 4 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making ...... 10 3.0 CONCLUSIONS ...... 12 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USAID ...... 13 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 13 II. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN EL SALVADOR ...... 15 1.0 BACKGROUND ...... 15 1.1 Population Profile ...... 16 1.2 Migration Profile ...... 19 2.0 FINDINGS ...... 19 2.1 Domain 1: Legal and Normative Framework ...... 19 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms ...... 22 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Their Human Rights ...... 22 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making ...... 25 3.0 CONCLUSIONS ...... 26 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 27 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 29 III. LGBTI IN EL SALVADOR ...... 30 1.0 BACKGROUND ...... 30 1.1 Glossary ...... 30 2.0 FINDINGS ...... 32 2.1 Domain 1: Legal and Normative Framework ...... 32 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms Preventing LGBTI Human Rights ...... 33 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Equal Rights ...... 35 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making ...... 39 3.0 CONCLUSIONS ...... 42 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 43 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 44 IV. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN EL SALVADOR ...... 46 1.0 BACKGROUND ...... 46 2.0 FINDINGS ...... 48 2.1 Domain 1: Legal/Policy Framework ...... 48 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms That Are Discriminatory ...... 52
2.3 Domain 3: Access to Assets and Services ...... 53 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making ...... 59 2.5 Organizations ...... 59 3.0 CONCLUSIONS ...... 61 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 61 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 61 V. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT: INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND RETURNED MIGRATION DUE TO VIOLENCE ...... 63 1.0 INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND VIOLENCE ...... 63 1.1 Determining Factors of Internal Displacement ...... 63 1.2 Targeted Violence, an Important Driver of Internal Displacement ...... 65 1.3 Economic Need ...... 69 2.0 FROM INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT TO MIGRATION ...... 69 2.1 Women ...... 70 2.2 LGBTI ...... 70 2.3 Youth ...... 71 2.4 People with Disabilities ...... 71 2.5 Indigenous Population ...... 71 2.6 Returnees, Violence, and Repeated Emigration ...... 72 3.0 FREEDOM FROM FORCED LABOR – TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS DOCUMENTARY FINDINGS ...... 73 VI. USAID STRENGTHS IN PROGRAMMING WITH GENDER EQUALITY AND INCLUSION 75 1.0 FINDINGS IN GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES .... 75 1.1 Lessons Learned in Mainstreaming Gender Within Administrative Practices ...... 76 1.2 Lessons Learned for Future Program Implementation ...... 76 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 80 VII. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE SELF- RELIANCE METRIC FINDINGS ...... 82
TABLES Table I.1: Economically Active Population in El Salvador, Changes Between 2014 and 2017 ...... 7 Table I.2: Occupation and Unemployment Rates in El Salvador for 2014 and 2017, Disaggregated by Sex Showing Gender Gap ...... 8 Table I.3: Gender Gaps in Main Sectors of Occupation in El Salvador, 2018 ...... 9 Table I.4: Population Earning Under $600 Per Month, Disaggregated by Sex and with Gender Gap (El Salvador) ...... 9 Table I.5: Masculinity Ratio of Monthly Salaries for Selected Occupations (El Salvador) ...... 10 Table I.6: Women’s Participation in the 2018 National Legislative Assembly Election ...... 11 Table I.7: Performance of Main Winning Political Parties by Sex of Principal Candidates ...... 11
Table I.8: Women’s Participation as Candidates in Municipal Mayoral Elections in 2018 ...... 12 Table II.1: Urban-Rural Gap in the Place of Residence of Persons with Disabilities, 2015 ...... 16 Table IV.1: Municipalities Holding Significant Indigenous Communities ...... 46 Table IV.2: Income Gap Between the Lowest Four Deciles in Urban and Rural Areas From 2014- 2017 ...... 54 Table IV.3: Indigenous Organizations Identified in the Gender and Inclusion Assessment ...... 60 Table VII.1: Evidence for the Analysis of Self-Reliance Metric Findings ...... 82
FIGURES Figure I.1: Changes in Women’s Position in the Economy in Type of Employment, Occupations, and Salaries, Period 2014-2017 ...... 8 Figure II.1: Gender Gap by Age Group and Place of Residence Among Persons with Disabilities in El Salvador, 2015 ...... 17
PHOTOS Photo I.1: Salvadoran women gathered in the nighttime manifestation of women “Walking Without Fear,” demanding the eradication of street harassment and violence against women. San Salvador, March 2018. Photo credit: Vanesa Pocasangre/USAID’s MEL Initiative ...... 5 Photo III.1: Workers from the LGBTI community publicly demand protection of rights during the May 1, 2018 Labor Day march in San Salvador. Photo credit: Vanesa Pocasangre/USAID’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Initiative ...... 33 Photo IV.1: Indigenous community celebrating the Kakawira ceremony on Earth Day, at the banks of the Torola river in Morazán (June 22, 2018). Photo credit: Vanessa Pocasangre/USAID’s ME&L Initiative...... 48 Photo IV.2: Domestic workers claim their rights through a street march heading to the Legislative Assembly (2017). Photo credit: Vanessa Pocasangre, USAID’s ME&L Initiative...... 57
ACRONYMS ADS Automated Directives System ARENA Spanish Acronym for Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Nationalist Republican Alliance) ASPIDH Spanish acronym for la Asociación Solidaria para Impulsar el Desarrollo Humano - ASPIDH Arcoiris Trans (Solidarity Association to Promote Human Development - ASPIDH Arcoiris Trans) AT Analysis Team CAM Spanish acronym for Cuerpo de Agentes Metropolitanos (Metropolitan Enforcement Agents) CCNIS Spanish acronym for Consejo Coordinador Nacional Indígena Salvadoreño (Salvadoran Indigenous National Coordinating Council) CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women CERD Convention for the Eradication of Racial Discrimination CEJIL Center for Justice and International Law CLA Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting CLADEM Latin America and the Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women Rights COMCAVIS-TRANS Spanish acronym for Asociación Comunicando y Capacitando a Mujeres TRANS en El Salvador (Association Communicating and Training TRANS Women in El Salvador) CONAIPD Spanish acronym for Consejo Nacional de Atención Integral para las Personas con Discapacidad (National Council for Comprehensive Care for Persons with Disabilities) CONCULTURA Spanish acronym for Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte (National Council for Culture and the Arts) CONNA Spanish acronym for Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y de la Adolescencia (National Council for Childhood and Adolescence) COP Chief of Party CSO Civil Society Organization DIGESTYC Spanish acronym for Dirección General de Estadística y Censos (National Directorate for Statistics and Census) DSD Directorate for Sexual Diversity EIS Spanish acronym for Educación Integral en Sexualidad (Comprehensive Sexuality Education) ENIPENA Spanish acronym for Estrategia Nacional Intersectorial para la Prevención de Embarazos en Niñas y Adolescentes (National Intersectoral Strategy for the Prevention of Pregnancy in Girls and Adolescents) FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FGD Focus Group Discussion FGR Spanish acronym for Fiscalía General de la República (Office of the Public Prosecutor)
FMLN Spanish acronym for Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) GBV Gender-Based Violence GOES Government of El Salvador HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome IACHR Inter-American Commission on Human Rights IDHUCA Spanish acronym for Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la UCA (Human Rights Institute of UCA) ILO International Labor Organization IOM International Organization for Migration IP Implementing Partner ISDEMU Spanish acronym for Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (Salvadoran Institute for Women Development) ISSS Salvadoran acronym for Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (Salvadoran Social Security Institute) KII Key Informant Interview LEIV Spanish acronym for Ley Especial Integral para una Vida Libre de Violencia para las Mujeres (Special Comprehensive Law for a Life Free of Violence for Women) LEOPD Spanish acronym for Ley de equiparación de oportunidades para las personas con discapacidad (Law of Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities) LEPINA Spanish acronym for Ley de Protección Integral de la Niñez y Adolescencia (Law of Comprehensive Protection of Childhood and Adolescence) LESSA Spanish acronym for Lenguaje de Señas Salvadoreño (Salvadoran Sign Language) LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex LGBTIQ+ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, and Related Communities LIE Spanish acronym for Ley de Igualdad, Equidad y Erradicación de la Discriminación Contra las Mujeres (Law for Equality, Equity, and Eradication of Discrimination Against Women) MINEDUCYT Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology MJPS Ministry of Justice and Public Security MPHS Multi-Purpose Household Survey NGO Non-Government Organization OAS Organization of American States PDDH Spanish acronym for Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Ombudsman for the Defense of Human Rights) PESS Spanish acronym for Plan El Salvador Seguro (Plan for a Safe El Salvador) PLANPIES Spanish acronym for Plan de Acción Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador (National Action Plan for Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador) PNC Spanish acronym for Policía Nacional Civil (National Civilian Police) SIS Former Social Inclusion Secretariat
SNIS Spanish acronym for Sistema Nacional para la Igualdad Sustantiva (National System for Substantive Equality) UCA Spanish acronym for Universidad Centroamericana, José Simeón Cañas (José Simeón Cañas Central American University) UIAEM Spanish acronym for Unidades Institucionales de Atención Especializada para las Mujeres (Specialized Institutional Care Units for Women) UN United Nations UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNHCHR United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development VACS Violence against Children and Adolescents Survey of 2017
I. WOMEN IN EL SALVADOR 1.0 BACKGROUND According to the latest Multi-Purpose Household Survey (MPHS), published in 2018 by the National Directorate for Statistics and Census (DIGESTYC), women in El Salvador represent 52.9 percent of the country’s total population and men 47.1 percent. Even though women represent slightly more than half of the population and despite the fact that in recent years a legal and regulatory framework has been developed aimed at their development and protection, gaps in the different spheres of life remain wide—privately and publicly—in relation to their male peers, impeding their full development, enjoyment of their basic rights, and ability to lead a life free of violence. What follows below summarizes the main findings of this study as a result of the document review and the field work. 2.0 FINDINGS 2.1 Domain I: Legal and Normative Framework The Salvadoran State has signed and ratified several conferences and conventions on women’s rights, including: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 1979; the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence Against Women in-Belem Do Para Brazil, 1994; and the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China 1995. The ratification of the international agreements assumed by El Salvador, together with the advocacy work of women’s organizations, has made it possible to advance in the design and approval of Salvadoran laws aimed at improving the situation of its female population and achieving their equality with men. These laws include the Special Comprehensive Law for a Life Free of Violence for Women (LEIV) (2010), which aims “to establish, recognize and guarantee the right of women to a life free of violence through public policies oriented to the detection, prevention, care, protection, compensation, and punishment of violence against women, in order to protect their right to life, to physical and moral integrity, freedom, non-discrimination, dignity, effective protection, personal security, real equality and equity” and the Law on Equality, Equity, and Eradication of Discrimination Against Women (LIE) 2011, whose purpose is “to create the explicit legal bases that will guide the design and execution of public policies that will guarantee real and effective equality for women and men, without any type of discrimination, in the exercise and enjoyment of legally consecrated rights.” To operationalize the LIE, the National Plan for Equality 2016-2020 was approved. This plan contains the vision and priorities established in each of the institutions with legal power to enforce the advancement of substantive equality in El Salvador, constituting the Salvadoran State’s main public policy tool, with national, sectoral, and municipal scope in terms of equality for women (ISDEMU, National Plan for Equality, 2016, p. 5). The National Plan for Equality contains the sectorial priorities for the eight development areas for the period 2016-2020 for each of the institutions with responsibility for addressing the law. These areas of priority are economic autonomy, care and social protection, education and culture for equality, mainstreaming the principles of equality and non-discrimination, sexual and
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reproductive health, life free of violence, women’s political and citizen participation, environment, and comprehensive risk management. The Plan states that the main challenges for advancing equality and non-discrimination against women in El Salvador relate to the strengthening of their economic autonomy, with full access to a comprehensive education and a culture that promotes equality; guarantee of their sexual and reproductive rights; the right to a life free of violence; and full participation in all areas of the country’s social, political, economic, and cultural life. On the other hand, a national policy for a life free of violence for women has been formulated and approved. Its purpose is to establish a set of guidelines, objectives, strategies, mechanisms of work, and intersectoral coordination of public institutions aimed at the detection, prevention, care, protection, compensation, and punishment of violence against women in order to protect their right to life, physical and moral integrity, freedom, non-discrimination for any reason, including sexual orientation and gender identity, dignity, personal security, real equality, and equity. In addition, the National System for Substantive Equality (SNIS) was created in 2013 “as an instrument of public management responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Law on Equality, Equity and Eradication of Discrimination against Women and promoting the building of women’s autonomy in their different spheres—public and private” (Regulation of the SNIS, p. 7). Over the past five years, two policy proposals have been formulated and await approval, an achievement attributable to the advocacy work carried out by different organizations—mainly women’s—as they discussed, validated, and designed them. These proposals, worth following up on, advocate for: 1) a national policy on care for women, and 2) a national policy for rural, indigenous, and peasant women. At the state institution level, by 2018, in comparison to previous years, there was a significant increase in the percentage of institutions having instruments and mechanisms for equality and eradication of discrimination. In 2015, the baseline year for the government administration that just completed a term, these institutions represented only 17.6 percent whereas in 2018, the number increased to 64.8 percent. By 2018, the establishment of 66 Gender Units had taken place, 30 equality and non-discrimination policies had been formulated, and 20 institutional equality plans had been developed. Additionally, 57 institutions had specific budgets for equality, although their budgetary allocations remained scarce. • Based on the available legal instruments, it can be affirmed that, there is a robust legal framework in El Salvador, and adequate mechanisms for their implementation by the institutions. In terms of equality and inclusion, this has been one of the most important advances in recent years. • However, despite having this legal framework, the challenge that remains is its implementation by State institutions as well as by other key players in society including the private sector, educational centers, and media, among others. This implementation challenge will be overcome to the extent that a larger budget is allocated, a new institutional culture is developed, and the agenda of equality and inclusion is considered as a key factor in education, at all levels.
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The strengthening of the mechanisms for the application of laws, such as the creation of the SNIS, has been fundamental, but there are still some challenges, i.e., improving data generation, disaggregating statistical information, and including women under several discriminatory conditions, as being indigenous or having a disability. Progress has been made in the design of instruments such as the Care Co-Responsibility Policy; the draft of the Rural, Indigenous, and Peasant Women Policy; the strategy for the prevention of teenage pregnancies; and other instruments worked in coordination with the institutions that are part of the System and deserve continuity (ISDEMU, April 2019). 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms Until 30 years ago, the Salvadoran society was eminently rural, basing its main economic activities on agriculture, with beliefs, values, and norms of behavior corresponding to this way of life. In 1980, the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) was 38 percent of goods and services generated, while at present it is 11 percent. Agricultural exports in that same year were 77 percent and have now been reduced representing 20 percent of exports (Baumeister, March 2017). Despite the expansion of urban areas as a result of internal migration, modernization processes, and the rise of new economic products and services that stimulate the economy, cultural features continue to correspond to those of a conservative society, where practically all of its population professes some religion and where cultural norms, beliefs, and stereotypes regarding the construction of gender identities correspond to traditional man-woman constructions. These constructions place man as a leader, provider, and professional, and woman as subordinate, dependent, and caregiver. These stereotypes and unalterred norms have had a direct impact in deepening the inequality gaps that persist between men and women. One of the clearest examples of this impact is visible in the undertaking of care tasks. According to the Time Use Survey conducted by DIGESTYC in 2017, women in El Salvador dedicate five hours a day to domestic work and care in relation to the two hours spent by men. The same survey shows that 65.9 percent of men in the country perform paid work in relation to 40.6 percent of women, while 75.3 percent of men perform domestic work and care compared to 93.7 percent of women. Caregiving as a debt of society Domestic work and care tasks are still considered in the country as tasks of secondary importance, and for the same reason, carried out mostly by women. Those receiving a remuneration for this task mostly receive an income lower than the monthly minimum wage of $300. Contrary to the perception that underestimates the domestic tasks and care, these tasks are fundamental to ensuring a well-functioning society and the social and economic rights of people. They encompass the care of the most vulnerable, such as early childhood, elderly, and people with disabilities, that require assistance. Public policies that guarantee access to time, resources, and care services have a direct impact on the entire welfare of society, as demonstrated by the societies that have them. They generate a series of positive effects on the living conditions and employability of women, who are the ones mostly performing paid and unpaid care work at the expense of their welfare and development. Assuming care tasks from an approach of co-responsibility between men and women, as well as between the State, the private sector, communities, and families, could mean an opportunity not
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only to redistribute these tasks equitably, but to contribute to the reduction of poverty, cement more egalitarian societies, and strengthen the community’s social fabric—which would translate into a reduction of risks in terms of violence and migration. In this regard, in recent years El Salvador has made progress in improving the conditions of domestic workers and in creating a proposal for a national care policy. In the case of domestic workers, in 2014, 10 percent of the economically active female population was employed in the sector. Of these, 91 percent did not receive benefits such as social security, vacations, and health insurance. Their salary was 45 percent lower than that of the rest of the economically active population. Consequently, their conditions are mostly unstable and precarious. (José Simeón Cañas Central American University’s [UCA] Human Rights Institute, or IDHUCA, 2015, p. 5) To improve the working conditions of this population, in 2010 the regulation “Creation and application of the special health and maternity regime for domestic workers,” was promulgated. Next, the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) created the special health and maternity regime for workers in the domestic sector that allows this population to register as contributors to the ISSS. Although not benefiting from the overall rights of contributing workers, this has represented an initial advance in their rights. For the year 2015, according to the information available from the ISSS, 123,886 people were engaged in domestic services, but, of these, only 2,112 had registered as beneficiaries of this regime. Despite the progress that has been made in the creation of this special regime, El Salvador has not yet ratified the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Convention 189 on domestic workers. Thus, challenges to guaranteeing the rights to this population persist on a large scale. In terms of care, in 2015 the government installed a Follow-up Commission, coordinated by the Technical Secretariat for Planning of the Presidency, comprised of the National Council for Comprehensive Care for Persons with Disabilities (CONAIPD), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MINEDUCYT), Salvadoran Institute for Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Salvadoran Institute for Women Development (ISDEMU), the former Social Inclusion Secretariat (SIS), National Council for Childhood and Adolescence (CONNA), Salvadoran Institute for the Comprehensive Development of Children and Adolescents, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. The Commission’s objective was the preparation and validation of the draft policy for Social Responsibility for Care, with the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) and governmental institutions that make up this Commission. This policy proposal document was finalized and has been submitted to the Social Cabinet but has not yet been approved. As already mentioned, El Salvador has made progress in the development of a normative framework on equality, but there is still a need to strengthen its implementation in all institutions responsible. Assessment evidence affirms that one of the limitations for its proper implementation is the culture of machismo with gender stereotypes that public servants often place above ethics and above the mandate of offering services to the population without discrimination, from a perspective of equality. Thus, it is imperative to strengthen and transform the existing institutional culture. 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Human Rights The violation of the human rights of women in El Salvador remains a major problem. According to Amnesty International’s 2017-2018 Report, the high rates of gender violence continue to make
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El Salvador one of the most dangerous countries for women (Amnesty International, 2018, p. 179). 2.3.1 Life Free of Violence for Women ISDEMU, as lead institution of the LEIV, surveys the situation of violence faced by women in the country, and produces an annual report that analyzes the different types of violence. Similarly, the actions of different state institutions integrated in the Specialized Technical Commission to influence the causes that generate violence have helped El Salvador to advance toward the eradication of this problem. By 2015, femicides against women had escalated alarmingly to 574 deaths of women. This 2015 high exceeded the 217 murders reported in 2013 (the year with the lowest number of women killed since enforcement of the LEIV began) by 141 percent. In 2016, there were 524 femicides; although a slight reduction in the 2016 rate is reflected (15.19 deaths per 100,000 women compared to the 16.79 reported in 2015), the figures continue to demonstrate the risk faced daily by women. In 2017, there was another slight reduction (469 cases), a decrease in the rate to 13.44 deaths per 100,000 women compared to 2016. From January to December 2017, every 18.7 hours a woman met a violent death (ISDEMU, 2018, pp. 20). The departments concentrating the largest numbers of acts of femicide and violence against women are those that house the largest cities: San Salvador, San Miguel, and La Paz. The creation of the National System of Care for Women facing gender-based violence (GBV) has been an important advancement in the past five years to reduce the rates of violence and femicide. This system, comprised of the Specialized Institutional Care Units for Women (UIAEM) and the Shelter Program, was created by the LEIV in its articles 25 and 26, with the aim of guaranteeing comprehensive and specialized care—centered on the victim—with a life cycle and human rights approach. Since enforcement of the LEIV began, the availability of care services for women nationwide has progressively increased; by June 2018, there were 101 UIAEMs, covering Photo I.1: Salvadoran women gathered in the nighttime manifestation of women “Walking Without Fear,” demanding the the 14 departments of the eradication of street harassment and violence against women. San country (ISDEMU, 2018, p. Salvador, March 2018. Photo credit: Vanesa Pocasangre/USAID’s 13). MEL Initiative
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One of the key indicators to identify the level of access to justice in cases of violence against women is the existence of a process that resolves the cases. According to ISDEMU, between 2016 and 2018, a total of 3,605 cases of sexual violence reached final sentencing; 65 percent of these cases included convictions. Regarding femicide, of 747 cases sentenced, 69.48 percent received a conviction. “To review the issue of sentences and resolutions, is a great challenge for the judicial system; and even more, to find sentences that apply the gender focus. On one occasion I managed to see a sentence that used the Convention of Belem Do Para against the woman who denounced! Thus, we see these serious and complex situations in the justice sector where cases reach a ruling that translates into impunity; changing that dynamic is a great challenge…” (UN Women in El Salvador, April 2019) An advancement in the prevention of violence against women has been the development of tools in institutions responsible at the national and local levels. These tools include the creation of gender units and the design of protocols, manuals, or guidelines allowing these units to respond to the high demand of cases of violence against women that they must address. In addition, resources have been invested in the design and implementation of plans to raise awareness and to train the staff of various institutions in gender theory with the objective of generating transformations in the institutional culture and progressing towards the reduction of unequal gender gaps. One such example is the creation of the Training School for Substantive Equality, which is responsible for training staff from all public institutions in matters of equality. At the same time, assessment evidence shows that it is in the development of this institutional culture that investment must continue because public servants still need to improve their capacity to respond to the differentiated needs of women and men, especially among those who are victims of violence. In terms of specialized attention to women facing violence and the development of inter- institutional coordination mechanisms under the LEIV, in 2017, a total of 88 UIAEM were put into operation at the national level by nine state institutions that belong to the National Comprehensive Care System for a Life Free of Violence for Women. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJPS), created 19 Local Offices for Victim Assistance, within the framework of the implementation of the Plan for a Safe El Salvador (PESS). ISDEMU has developed and disseminated the National Assistance System as the public policy tool that defines management procedures and strengthens the articulation of responses provided by the institutions and their coordination to comprehensively care for and protect women victims from GBV. The main progress reported to improve access to justice for women facing violence is the creation of the Specialized Jurisdiction for a Life Free of Violence and Discrimination for women with the establishment of a court that has been in operation since July 2017 in San Salvador. In January 2018, the courts of Santa Ana and San Miguel began their functions, expanding coverage nationwide. In 2016 the National System of Data, Statistics, and Information of Violence Against Women was created, as a DIGESTYC dependency that works in coordination with the MJPS. Institutions that own and process data, statistics, or information about acts of violence against women request and receive information from this system. This has been an important advancement but the
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challenge of generating information in a more expeditious manner and harmonizing it among the institutions persists. In relation to migration and women, it has become an option to flee from the violence they suffer, especially women victims of sexual harassment or violence by gangs, who prefer to flee from their places of origin and, if possible, migrate to avoid life threats. On the other hand, a form of violence against women that has increased is adolescent pregnancies. According to the Law of Comprehensive Protection of Childhood and Adolescence (LEPINA), adolescents are minors and sexual relations with a minor is a sexual crime. These cases are thus considered as violence because, reportedly, many if not most of them are the product of abuses by adult men that are part of their close environment. In 2017, The Government of El Salvador (GOES) launched the National Intersectoral Strategy for the Prevention of Pregnancy in Girls and Adolescents (ENIPENA) 2017-2027. This strategy was formulated in a coordinated manner between seven institutions of the executive organ and with the technical assistance from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the international non-government organization (NGO) PLAN International. The implementation of the strategy is an urgent task, considering that in 2016 MINEDUCYT identified 565 public schools with cases of pregnant girls; in 73.45 percent of these schools (415 schools) the girls continued their studies and in 26.55 percent, they did not (ISDEMU, 2018). In addition, 1,459 schools (28.43 percent of the total) included curricular guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education (EIS) in their educational programs and 1,744 included contents and strategies for gender equality and prevention of GBV as a substantive action for the prevention and construction of educational communities for equality (MINEDUCYT, 2016). 2.3.2 Economic Rights In the Economically Active Population in 2018, women represented 40.8 percent, a reduction of 0.7 percent since 2014. Table I.1 shows the annual changes for men and women and the gender gap. The gender gap represents 18.4 percent more men in 2018—an increase of 1.4 percent since 2014. Table I.1: Economically Active Population in El Salvador, Changes Between 2014 and 2017
Item Year Men Women Gender Gap Total Economically Active population (%) 2014 58.5% 41.50% 17.00% 100% Economically Active population (%) 2018 59.2% 40.8% 18.40% 100% Source: MPHS 2014, 2017.
Figure I.1 summarizes women’s position in the labor force in terms of type of employment, occupation, and monthly salary levels.
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Figure I.1: Changes in Women’s Position in the Economy in Type of Employment, Occupations, and Salaries, Period 2014-2017
The unemployment rate for 2018 was an average of 6.3 percent that decreased by -0.7 percent compared to 2014. However, the rate of unemployment for women increased by 0.2 percent in the same period while men’s decreased by 1.3 percent. The gender gap in levels of unemployment was 3.9 percent in 2014 and it decreased to 2.4 percent in 2018. See Table I.2. Table I.2: Occupation and Unemployment Rates in El Salvador for 2014 and 2017, Disaggregated by Sex Showing Gender Gap Men Women Average Men Women Average 2014 2014 2014 2018 2018 2018 Rate of occupation 91.4% 95.3% 93.0% 92.70% 95.10% 93.70% Rate of unemployment 8.6% 4.7% 7.0% 7.30% 4.90% 6.30% Gender gap in unemployment 3.9% 2.40% Source: Own calculations based on data from the MPHS 2014, 2018.
Nationally, in 2018 the main sectors of occupation for the labor force were commerce, hotels, and restaurants employing 31.5 percent, followed by agriculture and livestock, employing 15.8 percent, and the manufacturing industry, employing 15.1 percent. For women, the main sectors of occupation were commerce, hotels, and restaurants, employing 44.7 percent of women (1.6 percent more than in 2014); manufacturing industry, employing 16.8 percent of women (0.8 percent decrease from 2014); homes with domestic services, employing 10.6 percent of women in 2018 (an increase of 0.3 percent from 2014); and social, communal, and health services, employing 9.5 percent of women (2.0 percent decrease from 2014). The gender gap in occupations is shown in Table I.3. Women predominate by 22.6 percent in commerce, while men predominate by 21.4 percent in agriculture/livestock. Women also represent a larger proportion of employment in homes with domestic services by 9.6 percent, in
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social, communal, and health services the gap is of 5.3 percent, and in the manufacturing industry it is 2.9 percent. Table I.3: Gender Gaps in Main Sectors of Occupation in El Salvador, 2018 Average Men Women Gender Gap Sector of Occupation (%) (%) (%) (%) Commerce, hotels, and restaurants 31.5 22.1 44.7 -22.6 Agriculture/livestock 15.8 24.7 3.3 21.4 Manufacturing industry 15.1 13.9 16.8 -2.9 Homes with domestic services 0.3 1.0 10.6 -9.6 Social, communal, and health services 6.4 4.2 9.5 -5.3 Source: Own calculations using data from the MPHS 2018. 2.3.3 Gender Gap in Salaries/Wages At the national level, the gender gap in salaries shown by the male/female salary ratios shows that in 2018 men’s salaries were 1.20 greater than that of women (see Table I.5). In 2018 in El Salvador, 89.0 percent of people earning a monthly salary were earning less than $600 per month, a decrease of 1.3 percent since 2014. Table I.4 shows that 54.4 percent of the labor force is earning less than $300 per month, while 34.5 percent earn from $300 to $600. The gender gap in the segment earning less than $300 per month is 5.1 percent more women than men are earning at this level. In the segment from $300 to $600, the gender gap is 3.67 percent more men than women are earning at this level. Table I.4: Population Earning Under $600 Per Month, Disaggregated by Sex and with Gender Gap (El Salvador) Level of Monthly Average Women Men Gender Gap Earning +$300 54.42% 57.43% 52.30% -5.13% $300 to $600 34.53% 32.38 36.05% 3.67% Source: Own calculation using data form MPHS 2018.
The salary gaps between men and women is best expressed using the ratio or the male/female salary ratio. During the period 2014-2018, this ratio increased an average of 0.02 (from 1.18 in 2014 to 1.20 in 2018). In commerce, hotels, and restaurants, where almost a third of the population works, it decreased by 0.03 points to 1.38; in agriculture/livestock, it decreased by 0.09 points, from 1.08 to 1.00; and in homes with domestic services, it increased by 33 percent to 1.65 in 2018. This means that for persons earning less than $300 per month working in the sector of highest occupation—commerce—women earn 38 percent less than men, and even in domestic service, men earn 65 percent more than women. Table I.5 shows the masculinity ratio for these sectors for 2014 and 2018.
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Table I.1: Masculinity Ratio of Monthly Salaries for Selected Occupations (El Salvador) 2014 2018 Sector of Occupation Masculinity Ratio Masculinity Ratio Change M/F M/F National Average 1.18 1.20 0.02 Commerce, hotels, and restaurants 1.41 1.38 -0.03 Agriculture/livestock 1.08 1.00 -0.086 Manufacturing industry 1.34 1.31 -0.03 Homes with domestic services 1.32 1.65 0.33 Social, communal, and health services 1.26 1.22 -0.04 Source: Own calculation using data form MPHS 2014, 2018.
2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making According to ISDEMU, political participation of women has increased in terms of decision-making positions within the government from 7.7 percent in representation of ministries in the 2009- 2014 presidential period, to 35.7 percent in the presidential term 2014-2019 (ISDEMU, 2018). This trend is also observed in the case of women heading autonomous institutions where participation increased from 25.0 percent to 28.6 percent. Electoral participation The population of registered voters (aged 18 years and older with a valid identity document) varied in number and gender, both in the presidential (2014, 2019) as well as municipal/legislative elections (2015, 2018). According to numbers sourced from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, female voters were around 47 percent of the total in 2014 and 2018 and increased to 52.6 percent for the presidential elections in 2019. Voter registration was notably low in the 2015 municipal elections, and the proportion of women fell 1.9 percent compared to 2014. In contrast, the 2019 presidential election had the highest voter registration of the period. The female proportion rose by 5.2 percent compared to 2018. However, male involvement dropped by the same amount. See Figure 1 in Annex I in the main Gender and Inclusive Development Analysis Report. Affirmative action to increase female participation as electoral candidates consists of Article 38 of the Law of Political Parties that obligates political parties to include at least 30 percent women candidates in their voting ballots. In the 2018 elections for the National Legislative Assembly, the ballot had a total of 48 percent women. Disaggregating the main as well as substitute candidates by sex showed that 39 percent of the main candidates were women and 56 percent of the substitutes as well. These results show that a quota of 30 percent is low and inadequate. When parties are committed, they can find competent candidates. Nonetheless, according to ISDEMU, women’s participation is secondary, “Women…are used only to fill quotas.” At national level, there is still resistance to submitting women as candidates for the principal political positions In 2017, ISDEMU, together with the Parliamentary Group of Women and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, promoted the signing of a pact for the political participation of women free of violence and discrimination. Nine of the ten political parties participating in the 2018 elections endorsed the pact which constituted an instrument for ethical commitment to comply with ten established provisions referring to: not exercising any type of violence against women in the different phases of the electoral cycle; strengthening the statutes of political parties to address political violence; and promoting equitable access to the financial, human, and technical resources of the electoral campaign for women and men candidates, among others.
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In the 2018 elections for the National Legislative Assembly, there were a total of 379 (48 percent) principal and standing women candidates in the ballots. Principal candidates included 39.5 percent women and 60.5 percent men. In terms of performance at the ballots, women candidates in the legislative assembly won 16.7 percent of the principal seats in congress, compared to 24.3 percent of the men principal candidates. The masculinity ratio in this performance is 1.46. See Table I.6 below. Table I.6: Women’s Participation in the 2018 National Legislative Assembly Election Masculinity Candidate Stand % Principal Total Seats Won Ratio of Sex In Winners Winners No. % No. % No. % No. % No. Women 156 39.5% 223 56.5% 379 48.0% 26 16.7% Men 239 60.5% 172 43.5% 411 52.0% 58 24.3% Total 395 100.0% 395 790 100.0% 84 21.3% 1.46 (%) Women 39% 56% 48% Source: FUNDAUNGO, 2018. Segundo reporte de monitoreo electoral 2018 (enero-febrero 2018).
However, if analyzed by disaggregating according to the political parties that won most seats, 44.4 percent of all women candidates in the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) won seats, compared to only 43.6 percent of the men candidates, and in the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) women performed decidedly better, as 36.1 percent of women candidates won seats compared to 21.3 percent of men candidates in that party. This shows that when women candidates are selected with care and given adequate support, they can perform even better than men (see Table I.7 below). Table I.7: Performance of Main Winning Political Parties by Sex of Principal Candidates Party Arena Seats Won FMLN Seats Won Candidate Principal Principal No. Winners % Winners No. Winners % Winners Sex Candidates Candidates Women 27 12 44.4% 36 13 36.1% Men 55 24 43.6% 47 10 21.3% Total 82 36 43.9% 83 23 27.7% Women 32.9% 33% 43.4% 56.5% Source: FUNDAUNGO, 2018. Segundo reporte de monitoreo electoral 2018 (enero-febrero 2018).
At the municipal level, there were an overall 186 women or 16.3 percent among the 1,134 candidates for mayoralties, and their performance showed that 14 percent of the women candidates won mayoralties, compared to 23.6 percent of the men candidates, a masculinity ratio of 1.68. However, at the party level, 44.1 percent of women candidates in ARENA won mayoralties compared to 55.9 percent of the men candidates, a masculinity ratio of 1.27; the FMLN performance of women was poor compared to men showing a masculinity ratio of 2.25 (see Table I.8 below).
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Table I.8: Women’s Participation as Candidates in Municipal Mayoral Elections in 2018 Male/ 2018 % % Female % Total % Winners Winners Municipal Total Women Men Winners Winners Ratio of Women Winners Winners Men Women Elections Men Women %Win- ners Total 1,139 186 953 16.3 250 21.9% 224 23.5% 26 14.0% 1.68 candidates Parties: 254 34 220 13.4 138 54.3% 123 55.9 15 44.1 1.27 ARENA FMLN 227 31 196 13.7 61 26.9% 57 29.1 4 12.9 2.25 GANA 220 44 176 20.0 25 11.4% 21 11.9 4 9.1 1.31 PCN 213 33 180 15.5 24 11.3% 22 12.2 2 6.1 11 Source: http://www.eldiariodehoy.com/politica/89060/los-partidos-politicos-llevaron-el-minimo-de-mujeres-como- candidatas-a-alcaldesa/
Territorial and Municipal participation in decision-making ISDEMU created the Consultative and Oversight Committees for the Rights of Women to comply with regulations and with the national pacts for equality. Currently, 14 councils are operating at the departmental level and 95 at the municipal level. These councils are made up of women who perform social comptroller work and, in turn, coordinate with local organizations and with ISDEMU to measure progress in terms of equality and violence prevention. At the local level, women have also become more involved, but at the level of central and local governments, there is still a need to strengthen the empowerment of women in decision-making positions, since the tendency to include them as candidates or in public positions to complete the lists and comply with the established parity quotas persists. The analysis found that in the past five years, new items have been added to the agenda of women and CSOs’ demands, including decriminalization of abortion, protection of human rights defenders, and the adoption of care and reconciliation policies for family and work life. 3.0 CONCLUSIONS The legal framework on equality has been strengthened and it is one of the most comprehensive in the region. However, it is necessary to focus on strengthening its application through training and by raising awareness of public officials serving in the three branches of government, considering that a conservative culture with prevailing gender stereotypes persists in El Salvador. The policy proposals prepared for rural, peasant, and indigenous women, as well as the care policy, deserve follow-up and attention given that they promote actions for groups whose rights have not been recognized (i.e., rural, disabled, domestic workers, elderly). As in the legislation for equality, progress has been made regarding legislation for the prevention and elimination of violence against women through the creation of relevant mechanisms, but there is still a need to strengthen the harmonization and articulation among implementing institutions, in generating information and in raising awareness among public servants involved in the treatment/assistance of victims. It is necessary that the reported cases of violence be prosecuted because, so far, the number of cases resolved in relation to those reported is still very low.
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In the reports of state institutions, no link was found between violence suffered by women and migration, although in the document review as well as interviews and focus groups conducted, violence—especially gang violence—was constantly pointed out as cause of internal displacement and migration by women. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USAID • To strengthen governance (public institutions’ accountability, credibility, and trust) through effective citizen participation and support CSOs that perform oversight tasks related to compliance with equality and social inclusion legislation, by strengthening their capacity to advocate, oversee, and analyze to review institutional performance in complying with the laws. • Support training and sensitization of public institutions’ staff. Training should stress a strong practical approach aimed at fostering knowledge management and the development of practical skills to offer services knowing and understanding the different needs of women and men, while developing an institutional culture of inclusion. • Promote harmonization of procedures between the institutions, especially those responsible for the care for victims of violence, to improve care services and approaches and at the same time to raise the credibility of the authorities. • Include among the bilateral program’s priority results, to strengthen data generation and publication mechanisms in institutions responsible for reporting on results of gender equality, social inclusion, and a life free of violence policies. Data generation mechanisms should evolve to show intersectionality to highlight inclusion issues. The institutions include those in the system of justice, ISDEMU, DIGESTYC, and NGO and municipal observatories for sexual and social violence. • Conduct an assessment on the relationship of violence as a cause of women’s migration to propose possible recommendations for actions. • Promote the development of an institutional culture of inclusion through institutional capacity-building and knowledge management mechanisms. This could be aimed at developing suitable staff performance indicators for equality and inclusion and methodologies such as participatory gender audits and communities of practice that promote organizational learning at individual, work unit, organizational, and inter- institutional levels on how to practically and effectively mainstream gender and social inclusion. • Support strategic alliances between government and academic institutions, especially higher education institutions, technical education programs, and universities, to progressively promote the inclusion of obligatory subjects on human rights and equality in all careers, particularly in those involved in public institution services. 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY WOMEN AND ECONOMY 1. Asamblea Legislativa (2014). Ley de Fomento, Protección y Desarrollo para la Micro y Pequeña Empresa con sus reformas incorporadas. Government of El Salvador. D.L.667 D.O No. 90. T. 403. May 2014 and DL No. 838. D.O. No. 222 T. 417. November 2017
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2. DIGESTYC (2018). Encuesta Nacional de Uso del Tiempo 2017. Principales Resultados. San Salvador. Ministerio de Economía. 2018. Obtained from: www.digestyc.gob.sv 3. DIGESTYC and CONAMYPE, (2018). Encuesta Nacional de la micro y pequeña empresa 2017. San Salvador. Government of El Salvador. July 2018. Obtained from: www.transparencia.gob.sv/institutions/conamype/documents/ 4. Intituto de Derechos Humanos UCA, (IDHUCA), (2015). Reconociendo el Trabajo Doméstico Remunerado en El Salvador. El Salvador. 5. Peña Molina, J.A. and Superintendencia de Competencia (2017). Estudio sobre la caracterización del mercado de prestación de servicios financieros a las Micro y Pequeñas Empresas (MYPE) en El Salvador. San Salvador. Superintendencia de Competencia. June 2017. 6. Baumeister Eduardo (2017). El Salvador: evolución de la agricultura y estrategias de pequeños agricultores. San Salvador. Fundación Prisma. Marzo 2017.
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II. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN EL SALVADOR 1.0 BACKGROUND At the beginning of the 20th century, most societies, including the Salvadoran society, viewed disability as an unacceptable condition. A variety of descriptive terms were used: alienated, crippled, retarded, incapacitated, handicapped, or disabled. Many societies of that time believed that the correct approach was to hide persons with disabilities away from public view or to build places where they could live in isolation, thereby creating a social environment based on exclusion. It is within this context that the first model for the care of persons with disabilities emerged. The premise of that “traditional model” is that persons with disabilities are not subject to rights and are incapable beings who generally are to be separated from the community and institutionalized. Subsequently, a slight shift was reflected in a medical model that favored a rehabilitative approach. This model determined that persons with disabilities could be integrated into society if they were rehabilitated. Consequently, the concept of integration emerged which addressed disability from the perspective of the deficiency of the individual and in which health professionals had the last word on the development of people. However, it limited any active participation of persons with disabilities. Finally, after several years of demands from organized groups of people with disabilities, a social model emerged that was closer to the human rights approach. This makes the person with a disability a subject of rights. Following the example set by other social and civil rights movements, these groups began to demand equality in health care, employment, education, and transportation and an end to discrimination against them, among other issues. As a result of this advocacy, the States Parties of the United Nations (UN) Organization, with the participation of CSOs and human rights institutions negotiated the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereafter referred to as “the Convention”). It emerged on December 13, 2006 and was signed on March 30, 2007, with the approval of the UN General Assembly. In this Convention, the rights of persons with disabilities and the obligations of the States Parties to the Convention are outlined along with the mechanisms for their application. One of these is the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This group oversees the supervision of the implementation of the Convention and the Conference of the States Parties and is also responsible for examining issues related to the Convention’s implementation. It is important to highlight that the Convention defines disability as the result of the interaction between persons with disabilities and the barriers encountered due to attitudes and environments that prevent their full and effective participation in society. Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Convention states that “persons with disabilities include those who have physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory long-term deficiencies that, when interacting with various barriers, may be prevented from enjoying their full and effective participation in society on equal terms with others.” The expression “person with disability” not only presents fewer negative connotations than other terms, but also safeguards the personhood of the individual. Given the above, the result is that
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the term “person with disability” is the internationally accepted and recommended expression to be used when referring to this population group. In light of the importance of the Convention, it was ratified by El Salvador via Legislative Decree No. 420, dated October 4, 2007 and it came into force on May 3, 2008. 1.1 Population Profile More than a decade after El Salvador’s ratification of this Convention, these individuals have continued to experience discrimination in all areas, but mainly in the fulfillment of social, economic, and employment rights. It is therefore very important to become aware of the priorities and needs of these persons in Salvadoran society as seen from the perspective of their CSOs and to acknowledge that they have remained a priority group for social and economic inclusion. According to the first National Disability Survey conducted in 20151 by CONAIPD, the population with disabilities in El Salvador amounted to 410,798 people (54.1 percent women, 45.8 percent men)2 or approximately 6.4 percent of the total national population in 2015. The survey also indicated that the population with disabilities from birth to 24 years old amounted to 82,223. Of these, 44.6 percent (36,649) were females and 55.4 percent (45,574) were males. Infants, adolescents, and youth constituted 20.0 percent of the persons with disabilities, according to this 2015 survey. The group 25 to 64 years old, represented 41.7 percent of the total number of persons with disabilities. Of these, 55.1 percent were women and 44.9 percent were men. The elderly population, 64 years and older, represented 38.3 percent (58.2 percent women and 41.7 percent men). Overall, the adult population represents 80 percent of the total number of persons with disabilities, with adult women representing 54.2 percent and adult men 45.8 percent. The urban-rural gap analysis shows that most persons with disabilities reside in urban areas— especially the adult population. That is, 63.5 percent of the total population live in urban areas and 36.5 percent in rural areas, representing an urban/rural gap of 27 percent. See Table II.1 below. Table II.1: Urban-Rural Gap in the Place of Residence of Persons with Disabilities, 2015 Age Group Urban-Rural Gap Youth 0-24 years 3.80% Adult 25-64 years 13.12% Senior citizens 64+ years 10.11% Total 27.03% Source: Own calculation based on CONAIPD 2015 Survey of Disabled Persons.
The gender gap (male percentage versus female percentage) shows that in the population under 24 years of age, there is 2.17 percent more males than females with disabilities. However, in the adult population the gender gap reverses, showing 4.26 percent more females than males;
1 This is first, and so far, the only, survey conducted since the National Policy for Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities was approved in 2014. 2 Source: Encuesta Nacional de Personas con Discapacidad 2015. Primera lectura de datos. Mayo 2016. Gobierno de El Salvador: CONAIPD. The Main report, published in 2017, focuses on persons over 18 years old and thus provides a smaller figure. 16
furthermore, it increases in the elderly population, where the gap rises to 6.28 percent more females than males. In addition, these gaps are greater among the urban population than in the rural population. See Figure II.1 below for age and location disaggregation. Figure II.1: Gender Gap by Age Group and Place of Residence Among Persons with Disabilities in El Salvador, 2015
PERSONS WITH DISBILITIES GENDER GAP BY AGE GROUP, URBAN & RURAL, 2015
TOTAL Urban Rural
4.00% 2.00% 2.17% 1.34% 0.84% 0.00% -0.75% YOUTH 0- 24 YRS ADULT 25- 64 YR SENIOR CITIZENS TOTAL -2.00% 64+-2.24% -2.15% -3.51% -4.00% -4.26% -4.04% -6.00% -6.28% -6.22% -8.00% -8.37% -10.00%
Source: CONAIPD 2015 Survey.
Regarding the degree of disability, the 2015 survey showed that 62 percent of the population with disabilities have one type of disability; 23 percent have two types; 7.5 percent have three deficiencies; 3.3 percent have four deficiencies; 2.8 percent have five; and 1.1 percent have more than five deficiencies. These data show that a significant proportion have two disabilities and others have even more. Disability generally generates poverty and poverty enhances disability. This is due to the additional need for technical assistance, human assistance, or other requirements to treat or manage their deficiency, which locks them into a vicious cycle that is difficult to break. A cumulative figure of the seven types of disabilities reported3 above and present in the population with disabilities total 673,556; multiple disabilities in various combinations were present in 37.7 percent of the total number of persons with disabilities. Physical disabilities represented 47 percent of the reported total (68.9 percent men and 31.1 percent women); visual impairment made up 35.4 percent (66.6 percent men and 35.5 percent women); communication disabilities accounted for 13.6 percent (63.4 percent men and 36.6 percent women); hearing impairment affected 21.5 percent (57.1 percent men and 41.9 percent women); intellectual disability represented 20.7 percent (65.7 percent men and 4.3 percent women); psychosocial or mental disabilities were found in 11.3 percent (65.7 percent men and 34.3 percent women); and
3 Source CONAIPD 2016. Encuesta Nacional de Personas con Discapacidad 2015. Primera Lectura de Datos. It showed that a total of 193,053 persons had physical disabilities; 55,888, visual; 88,398, communication; 84,865, intellectual; 46,530, psychosocial and mental; and 59,461, dependency type of disabilities and, as mentioned, these could be present simultaneously in a person. 17
14.5 percent were persons dependent on the support of others to perform daily activities (71.1 percent men and 28.9 percent women). At the national level, the burden of disability based on the gender of the head of household was borne by 11.3 percent of male-headed households and 9.1 percent of female-headed households who had at least one person with disabilities in the home. The burden is greater for rural male- headed households with 12.4 percent of male-headed households reporting disability in the home compared to 10.6 percent of urban households. On the other hand, at 9.5 percent, the burden is greater for urban female-headed households compared to 8.4 percent of rural female-headed households. Poverty as mirrored in access to water shows that nationwide only 47.4 percent of households with at least one disabled person have water in the housing units. Of the rest, 30.6 percent have access to water outside the house, and 22 percent must procure water through other means. Rural areas are the most disadvantaged with only 20.5 percent of the households having water in the house with 43.1 percent having to obtain water outside the house, and 36.4 percent needing to procure water through alternative means. In the area of education, the 2015 Disability Survey showed that nationally, the average number of years of schooling completed by persons with disabilities is 4.1 years, with 5.1 years in urban areas and 2.3 years in rural areas. Overall, 57.7 percent of persons with disabilities had attended school at some point. Of these, 2.6 percent had completed school (2.5 percent males/2.7 percent females). Another 11.5 percent were still studying. The Survey showed that 30.8 percent of persons with disabilities had never attended school. There were a variety reasons given for not acquiring formal education, including 16.2 percent who indicated it was due to their disabilities (19.5 percent males/13.2 females). Another 21.6 percent needed to work to earn an income (29.1 percent males, 15.1 percent females), while 2.8 percent attributed lack of schooling to having to do domestic chores (0.1 percent males, 5.2 percent females); and 5.6 percent cited home and family reasons, among other factors (3.5 percent males, 7.5 percent females). A notable 33.8 percent indicated it was because they had been overage and could not enroll (26.9 percent males, 39.9 percent females). The lack of schooling is reflected in literacy rates. Nationally, 34.6 percent of the population with disabilities is illiterate compared to the 10.9 percent national average. The average illiteracy rate for men with disabilities is 14 percent, compared to a national average of 4 percent. For women it is even higher, with a rate of 20.6 percent illiteracy compared to a national average of 6.9 percent. Although persons with disabilities constitute a significant percentage of the national population, and despite the efforts of organizations that represent their interests, this group remains invisible. In part this could be attributed to persisting attitudes that continue to disregard persons with disabilities as being somewhat intellectually impaired regardless of their actual disability. This is reflected in de jure discrimination, since legislation in El Salvador continues to show serious discriminatory measures towards this sector within its precepts. This can be observed in the nation’s Constitution, specifically as Article 74, paragraph 2 states that citizenship rights are suspended for reasons that include “mental alienation,” totally contrasting with the Convention’s humanist spirit. Discrimination, negative and positive, is also reflected in several Salvadoran regulations, including the Civil Code of 1860 Articles 74, 1317 and 1318 that include mental alienation and deafness as reasons to suspend citizen rights; the Notarial Law Articles 6 and 34
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that bar the “mentally alienated and the blind, deaf, and mute” from being witnesses and public notaries; the Criminal Code Articles 159, 161, 167, 173 that protect mentally impaired minors from different types of sexual crimes; and the recently reformed Electoral Code Articles 7, 92, 97 and 101 that limit persons with “mental alienation” from participating in electoral processes, citing Article 74 of the Constitution. 1.2 Migration Profile Findings show that generally, persons with disabilities are not within the traditional migration segment. However, as family groups have started in recent years to migrate to flee the violence in their communities, family members with disabilities have been taken along. A key informant mentioned the existence of cases in which returned migrants, who had left the country in good and healthy conditions, returned with disabilities (i.e., missing limbs or other physical handicaps). “Directly, we do not work with people who migrate, but we have been close to people who are left disabled when trying to migrate, and they tell us their stories; in the migrating caravans for example, people have become disabled.” (Interview with Fundación Sendas, April 2, 2019) 2.0 FINDINGS 2.1 Domain 1: Legal and Normative Framework The State of El Salvador ratified the Inter-American Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities through Legislative Decree No. 610 of November 15, 2001. The UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified through Legislative Decree No. 420 of October 4, 2007. Institutionalization of the task of overseeing the rights of persons with disabilities has rested in CONAIPD since its first creation in 1993 (Executive Decree No. 111, December 6, 1993). Originally created as a deconcentrated organ of the Presidency to oversee the comprehensive rehabilitation of persons whose disabilities had been caused by the armed conflict, it changed its functions through Executive Decree No. 136 of December 22, 2006 to meet requirements of the ratification of the Inter-American Convention. On that occasion, the Commission’s participants were increased by adding to the Council the Ministry of Labor and members of associations of persons with disabilities. In 2010, with the ratification of the UN Convention of 2007, the new government of the FMLN dissolved the CONAIPD by leaving without effect the executive decree of 2006, and recreated it a month later (through Executive Decree No. 73 of June 17, 2010) as a stronger decentralized institution, still under the Presidency, with multi-ministerial representation (Health, Labor, Public Works, Education, Finance, and Governance) in the plenary and technical committee, and adding representation from associations of every type of disability in addition to those of families of persons with disabilities and private foundations involved in their care. The council’s new function was to be the regulatory institution that would formulate, ensure implementation, follow up, and evaluate a National Policy for Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities that would meet the State’s international commitments. This policy was enacted in 2014. As will be seen in the section on access to human rights (Domain 3), regulatory measures to comply with the National Policy and the Law of Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (LEOPD) are not yet in place. In fact, the Action Plan for the National Policy defined most of its measures for medium (three years) and long-term achievement (more than three years), and these included measures to ensure access to the system of justice, access to an 19
inclusive education, and access to information in public institutions through Salvadoran Sign Language (LESSA) interpretation and Braille material for deaf and blind persons. The only short- term results were related to rehabilitation and sports. Thus, although El Salvador ratified the Convention and approved a policy, by relegating most of its results to the medium and long term, it showed a lack of political will to enforce it and postponed the need to assign a budget to make the policy a reality. According to the Constitution, in El Salvador, every person has the constitutional right to life, physical and moral integrity, liberty, security, and work, regardless of her or his beliefs, nationality, race, sex, or physical condition. These rights therefore apply to persons with disabilities as well. The LEOPD is currently the only law specifically enacted to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The LEOPD has been in effect since the year 2000, a year after subscription of the Inter-American convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities, and a year before the country ratified it. The LEOPD establishes a regulation for the equalization of opportunities for persons with physical, mental, psychological, and sensorial disabilities, whether acquired at birth or later. The rights defined in the LEOPD include protection from discrimination, exploitation, denigration, or abusive treatment due to a disability and the right to education through appropriate learning methodology. It also provides for accommodations that enable physical access to public and private facilities (i.e., such as architectural adaptations); labor training as well as professional rehabilitation; the right to employment and remunerated occupations and to not be dismissed due to a disability; to be cared for by ideally suited personnel while in comprehensive rehabilitation; and to have access to a system of scholarships. Article 24 of the LEOPD establishes that all private and public employers (including autonomous institutions) are obligated to hire a minimum of one person with disabilities with the professional competence to perform the job for every 25 employees. Informants from diverse organizations that were consulted indicated that this law is not being complied with, because employers prefer to pay every time they are inspected the established maximum fine (¢500 colones, approximately US$57) rather than incurring in the costs of making the required adaptations for persons with physical disabilities or buying technology and/or software needed to hire visually impaired/blind or deaf persons. The LEOPD did not strengthen the CONAIPD in terms of implementing the Law. It simply stated that it would formulate the national policy for comprehensive care of persons with disabilities; it would be its regulating entity; and it would coordinate actions developed by diverse sectors for the benefit of persons with disabilities. The policy that was formulated four years later calls for the establishment of a National System for Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities, mentioning the organs of the state, municipalities, and autonomous institutions to develop the system in the medium term. The policy rarely specified responsible institutions and did not estimate or define a budget for the plan of action. As a result, in spite of the ratification of the UN convention, the LEOPD, and the national policy, the organizations created by persons with disabilities and close family members continue to struggle with the same issues and developing services they need, such as special education, specialized therapies, and advocating for improvements in existing services. Their main source of 20
institutional support has been the Ombudsman for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), and, under their technical assistance at the table for persons with disabilities of the PDDH, they formulated a proposal for the establishment of a Law for Inclusion that is currently being reviewed in the National Legislative Assembly. This review is being promoted by David Reyes, a dynamic, newly elected congressman from the ARENA party who has a physical disability. The proposed law aims to strengthen the institutional framework to oversee compliance with the rights of persons with disabilities and correct the omissions in the current LEOPD. This includes ensuring harsher penalties for employers who do not comply with hiring requirements. Although the national policy contemplates updating and harmonizing national regulations to comply with the international rights of persons with disabilities, this process has yet to begin. The current lack of a perspective of inclusion has caused important omissions in recent national legislation. For example: • Laws for gender equality and a life free of violence: Women with disabilities were not included in consultations to formulate LIE, LEIV, and the National Policy for Women, thus their special requirements are invisible in them, as well as in older laws such as the Law against Domestic Violence. • Lack of inclusiveness in regulations to guarantee the Right to Health: This lack is particularly noticeable regarding the issue of free and informed consent prior to any treatment, which is especially needed by women with disabilities facing medical procedures in hospitals, clinics, and health units. • Right to Education: Inclusive Schools only target persons with physical and learning disabilities and only in a limited number of schools, not throughout the country. The deaf and the blind, for instance, are not taken into consideration; furthermore, only few schools specialize in these disabilities, and they are not easily accessible to most of these populations. • Lack of measures and awareness campaigns that promote dignity and eradication of stereotypes and prejudices toward persons with disabilities: This lack is a violation, by the Salvadoran State, of the rights of persons with disabilities. The above findings as well as those described in Domain 3, confirm that the Salvadoran State has not yet complied with the Convention’s provisions, specifically with article 9 that establishes “accessibility as a vehicle to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life; States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, access to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications—including IT and system—and to other facilities and services open and provided to the public, both in urban and rural areas.” (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006) This concept is considered broad because it covers new technologies, information, and designs so that everyone can use them in equal conditions, thus, exercising the rights to free mobility, information, and expression without limitations.
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2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms Persons with disabilities receive discriminatory treatment because they are seen as having a disease and not a condition. This discrimination is evidenced in health centers especially when they make first contact with non-sensitized caregiving staff or medical personnel. This form of stereotyping and prejudice leads to neglect and to the tendency of treating persons with disabilities as if they are intellectually incapable of managing affairs on their own just because they lack a physical or sensorial capacity, particularly when ignoring the fact that disabilities can arise because of home and workplace accidents or while traveling. This attitude has resulted in their legal marginalization as agents of their own development, in unequal treatment in the use of public services, and in hindrances in the exercise of their right to education, health, and work. The impact of this is reflected in low educational levels, poverty, and different types of abuse. There is strong evidence for a link between disability and poverty. This is further aggravated for women caregivers of persons with disabilities since they cannot go out to work as they provide home care to a family member that has a disability. This situation results in less family income, both for the person with disabilities as well as for the caregiver. Although persons with disabilities may have willingness to work and be productive, they are frequently not given the opportunity to exercise their right to work. “Disabilities are not only conditions of the poor…rich persons also have them, but in their case [the rich] they are taken out of the country or have nurses assisting them; we, as persons with few resources, must struggle to provide for ourselves.” (Interview with the Salvadoran Association of Relatives and Friends of persons who suffer from Schizophrenia and other metal disorders, April 2, 2019) Regarding illiteracy or low educational attainment, this population is at a greater disadvantage because of the lack of policies as well as of economic resources and/or access to the educational system and specialized programs. As a result, this has led to higher than average levels of illiteracy and an overall average of only four years of school completed. Women with disabilities are at increased risk of suffering violence and harassment, especially during childhood and adolescence (mainly deaf and blind girls—and boys under 7 years old) because they cannot easily express their personal complaints. According to key informants in focus group discussions (FGDs), sexual violence is commonly inflicted by members of their own families, including fathers, uncles, cousins, and even grandparents. Their concerns are not reflected with special preventive clauses in the law that protects women and children from this type of violence, only through punitive measures in the Criminal Code, as aggravated crimes with higher number of years of incarceration. 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Their Human Rights The main human rights of persons with disabilities that are violated are those related to recognition of their legal capacities (in the case of the visually, hearing, and communicating impaired) and equal or equitable access to the right to health; the right to education; the right to work; the right to housing; and the right to social security, among others. In spite of the rights promoted by the LEOPD and the national policy for comprehensive care of persons with disabilities, there are only a limited number of public institutions that comply with the equal or equitable treatment of persons with disabilities. Furthermore, in the regulatory framework, there are no sanctions stipulated for non-compliance with the law, except in the case
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of the employment quota. There are also no mechanisms of redress in cases of discrimination against persons with disabilities. Findings arising from key informant interviews (KIIs) held with members of CSOs of people with disabilities and with the PDDH evidenced inequalities suffered by persons with different types of disabilities in El Salvador considered as violations of their human rights. All these problems relate to strategies stated in the national policy; however, there is little evidence of its implementation and, on the other hand, a lot of evidence that the problems it is to solve are in full bloom. Problems cited include: • Health care is not provided in adequate and patient-sensitive environments. As an example, a caregiver assisting a woman with a mental disability indicated that at the hospital where the woman was being treated, medication kept her asleep and drooling until she [the caregiver] protested. Furthermore, the next medication given almost made her bite her tongue, and a third caused the woman dizziness; nonetheless, doctors showed disinterest. The caregiver considered this a lack of respect for human rights of the person with disability by providing medication that affected her capacity for self-sufficiency in her day-to-day life.4 There are also known cases of forced sterilization of women with disabilities. • There are no adaptations regarding sexual and reproductive health care procedures and equipment; performance of obstetric/gynecological procedures are not adapted to their special conditions and situations. Hence, they often do not have access to gynecological and obstetrical services. • Also relevant to the right to health, it is urgent that the State proceed to create policies for access to drinking water and basic sanitation, especially in rural and marginal areas, where clean water is supplied by tanker trucks or pipes, or natural water wells that require mobilization from the homes to the water sources and back to the homes, carrying water in containers. This is much more complex for people with disabilities, and more so for those living in poverty or extreme poverty. Likewise, there is an exacerbated problem with basic sanitation especially with the use of latrines. • There is a lack of care programs and policies addressing people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities who are confined in public psychiatric or detention centers in El Salvador. • Regarding equal opportunities in accessibility to public services, there is a lack of physical accessibility, interpretation services, and dissemination/provision of relevant information to specific disabilities (i.e., signage in buildings and on streets and other infrastructure; institutions and service providers having personnel who are knowledgeable of sign language, provide Braille-versions of documents, etc.). Accessibility is extremely limited for blind and deaf persons especially with regard to public services. The means to provide Braille system materials and LESSA interpreters are nonexistent in public and private
4 Interview with the Salvadoran Association of Relatives and Friends of persons who suffer from Schizophrenia and other metal disorders, April 2, 2019.
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institutions. Furthermore, educational centers do not teach LESSA as a standard and accessible communication methodology for people with sensory disabilities. • There are gaps in public policies and regulations for guaranteeing infrastructure providing access and free movement in rural and urban areas to comply with provisions stated in Article 9 of the Convention. Key informant testimonials highlighted that the right to free mobility is limited. Restrictions include a lack of adequate and safe ramps and effective removal systems of urban and rural obstacles. This results in a restrictive, discriminatory, and even more unsafe environment. • Administration of the justice system in El Salvador does not identify specific measures that guarantee accessibility for the population with disabilities, not only in terms of architectural/infrastructure barriers, but also at all stages of judicial procedures that lack reasonable adjustments. State entities within the justice sector lack protocols for providing adequate services. For example, public institutions do not comply with the obligation of having LESSA interpreters and when assisting deaf users usually request the service from other institutions such as CONAIPD, the former SIS, or the PDDH. Neither the LEOPD nor its regulation stipulate sanctions for non-compliance with the accessibility requirements stated in the law. Nevertheless, attending deaf persons without an interpreter denies them all access to justice, as they cannot make a statement or denounce facts as they know them—and thus cannot enter the system of justice and its services. • In education, the need persists to implement measures to ensure the right to education and inclusion of children and adolescents with disabilities in the Salvadoran educational system, particularly for deaf and blind persons. • There is concern about the lack of an effective inclusive education, despite the existence of the National Policy on Inclusive Education whose implementation is established as an integration program within the educational system. • In this same area, the deaf community continues to have serious difficulties in accessing quality education at all academic levels of academic levels and training. According to collected information, people throughout the country with deaf and blindness statuses lack access to education, as well as to interpreters. • Plans and programs that enable access for adults with disabilities to the education system are nonexistent. “… in the table [consultation mechanism at the PDDH] on many occasions one hears complaints about the educational institutions not wanting to assist persons with Down Syndrome or deaf persons…they are told that they do not have accessibility…the educational institutions often do not want to enroll persons with disabilities or cannot provide the assistance they need…these are problems that persons with disabilities in our society live with.” (Interview with the Salvadoran Association of Relatives and Friends of persons who suffer from Schizophrenia and other metal disorders, April 2, 2019) • Regarding labor issues, discrimination persists in the hiring of people with disabilities, both in the public and private sectors despite the legal provision that requires hiring one person
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with disability for every 25 employees. It is considered that the State’s mandate and penalty for non-compliance are insufficient to improve this practice. • Other barriers preventing the enjoyment of decent employment in this population sector are found in public transport, infrastructure, communication systems, and in the lack of adequate vocational and job training. This predisposes persons with disabilities to carrying out precarious jobs or condemns them to extreme poverty. The team undertaking this analysis became aware of cases of deaf people who are paid half of the stipulated salaries and are denied legal benefits. • There is an absence of public policies on employment, vocational training, and employment programs to promote entrepreneurship for people with disabilities. Also lacking are vocational and social rehabilitation measures for their inclusion in the workplace. • Findings of this analysis determined that there is invisibility of this population group in the formulation of public policy. There are no statistical data available on persons with disabilities in public institutions, nor registries of people with disabilities who request services, or of people who have acquired a disability due to accidents when migrating to other countries, for example. • Also, there are no funds allocated in the government’s budget to implement programs for persons with disabilities either at the municipal or national levels. • There is little support from international cooperation for the CSOs of people with disabilities that could support the strengthening of their organizations, which is a necessary aspect to promote an inclusive society. • Regarding self-determination there is a lack of empowerment of persons with disabilities as agents of their own development. Children or adolescents with disabilities are not incorporated in CSOs that advocate for their rights. • Because current public policies and programs do not highlight special issues of women and girls with disabilities, they are discriminated against even more than men with disabilities. 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making There is little support for and very little participation of CSOs for people with disabilities at either municipal or national level that address the formulation of laws, policies and programs and the implementation of action plans by the State. There is also little participation of the population with disabilities in training workshops where they can learn about their rights. “Persons with some disabilities are excluded because there exists no adequate infrastructure, measures or instruments... persons with sensorial disabilities can sometimes participate, (if Braille, multimedia, interpreters are available.” (Interview Fundación Sendas, April 2, 2019) As for participation in organizations, “The decisions made in organizations of persons with disabilities are taken mainly by men; the role of women is testimonial.” (Interview Fundación Sendas, April 2, 2019)
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In political participation, “A person with disabilities is only a ‘timely opportunity.’ We are only included when there are electoral processes. A person with disabilities is utilized, and that is not inclusion, it is not democracy. They only use the image of the person…In the last five years there have been advances, but not as expected. In past elections there was training to include persons with disabilities [in the reception of votes], but the same problems were seen, lack of knowledge that there were Braille ballots, inadequate accessibility to places where voting took place, etc.” (Interview Fundación Sendas, April 2, 2019) Nevertheless, in the 2018 elections for the National Legislative Assembly two political parties included young candidates with physical disabilities and they were elected: Eileen Romero and David Reyes. Reyes has demonstrated notable leadership coordinating the committee of young members of the Legislature and promoting the review of the proposed law on inclusion. In civil society among persons with disabilities, several organizations have emerged from the need to advocate for the care and rights of persons with disabilities by their family members. The advocacy group for intellectual disabilities is composed of organized parents. The network of organizations for persons with disabilities incorporates persons representing specific disabilities and others that encompass all types. 3.0 CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that the legal framework to respond to the needs of persons with disabilities found in the Analysis exists in the National Policy for Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities, although the mandate of the CONAIPD does not enable this organization to enforce the law. What has not been evident, in parallel to the development of the legal framework, has been a financial commitment to implement the measures identified to comply with the international commitments. Thus, in analyzing the current situation and the needs presented by persons with disabilities, the Salvadoran State must show a clearer commitment to the compliance of human rights under international and national regulations, including El Salvador’s Constitution Articles 2 and 3 and the UN Convention, which require the State to generate the necessary conditions in the socio- cultural environment and thus, eliminate underestimation, discrimination, and exclusion that generate barriers to physical accessibility, communication, and information. For this, it is necessary to reform the LEOPD and to advance in the implementation of the national policy, including the updating and harmonization of other laws to incorporate the principle of inclusion and equality of persons with disabilities. The research team for this analysis learned that because the Salvadoran State did not comply with the recommendation made by the Committee of the United Nations on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding “making a complete revision of its legislative framework to harmonize it with the Convention,” the Permanent Bureau for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, coordinated by the PDDH, prepared a law proposal in 2015 entitled “Inclusion Project for People with Disabilities.” The proposed law’s main contributions are highlighted as follows: • Its fundamental pillars are the human rights of people with disabilities, their inclusion, and non-discrimination.
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• It clearly and precisely establishes the general obligations of the State for guaranteeing full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of the rights inherent to their human dignity. It lays out specific obligations for each competent institution concerning the fulfillment of these rights. • It mandates for the allocation in each institution of a percentage of the budget for expanding inclusion for people with disabilities. • It strongly recommends the creation of a National Council for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities to function as the governing entity for the effective application of the UN Convention and the Law. This council would become an autonomous, independent entity with its own assets and with representation of organizations of, and for, people with disabilities. • It acknowledges the legal capacity of persons with disabilities, which guarantees respect for their will and preferences and is also aims for the establishment by the State of mechanisms to support decision-making of persons with disabilities, eradicating the substitution regime in the decision-making process. • It guarantees the political rights of people with disabilities. It also encourages their participation in political and public life, through their nomination in positions of popular election. • It seeks to guarantee access to justice on equal terms with other people, to due process, and to ensure reasonable adjustments. • In education, it seeks to guarantee the right to inclusive education at all levels of the education system. It advocates for the recognition of LESSA as an official Salvadoran language, including the accreditation of interpreters. • Concerning the labor market, the percentage of people with disabilities to be hired for private companies and state institutions has been increased to 10 percent of all staff hired and on the payroll. • The proposal has been configured as a significant advancement; it imposes infractions and sanctions, generally established for both the public and private sectors upon violation of the law. • It is anticipated that, upon the approval of this draft bill, people with disabilities will be recognized on equal terms with others, fully respecting their human rights and fundamental freedoms. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS An overall recommendation of the Analysis Team (AT) is that USAID support the implementation of the National Policy for the Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities, namely strategy 2.3 to ensure an effective access to justice, and strategy 3.3 to promote access to information on the services of public institutions. In keeping with USAID inclusion policies, to support the strengthening of capacities of organizations of persons with disabilities to advocate, manage their organizations effectively, and become competent in fundraising to become self-sustaining. In addition, to form alliances with
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them in order to strengthen implementing partners’ (IPs) capacities to effectively include persons with disabilities within their target groups. In the validation meeting with representatives from organizations of people with disabilities as well as persons benefiting from USAID projects, the following additional recommendations were validated: • Promote the gathering of statistical data on persons with disabilities to properly design policy, programs, and effective plans that fully ensure the enjoyment of their rights. Data should be reliable, up-to-date, and disaggregated to show intersectionality including variables for ethnicity, age, sex, type of disabilities, location, and income level, among others. • Strengthen the advocacy capacity of persons with disabilities to have the National Legislative Assembly promptly approve the bill addressing the Inclusion of Persons with Disability submitted in 2015 and still under discussion by the Family, Childhood, Adolescence, Disability, and Senior Adults Commission. • Promote and support the implementation of the National Policy for Comprehensive Care of Persons with Disabilities that includes all the following:
o Promote accessibility through implementation of regulations concerning construction/adaptations of infrastructure; facilitation of free movement on streets, roads, and means of transportation and the harmonization of related sectoral and municipal legislation and regulations to comply with them; and education of service providers to break down stereotypes or discrimination in accordance with Article 9 of the Convention.
o The inclusion of children and adolescents with disabilities in the educational system by training educators on sign language, the Braille system, and other methodologies relevant to other disabilities, as well as on the rights of persons with disabilities; and, for future sustainability, by building the capacity teachers through ensuring that higher education curricula on relevant careers include as mandatory subjects the topic of the human rights of persons with disabilities and LESSA.
o Support public policies, law reforms, and programs that create employment opportunities and promote the hiring of people with disabilities both, in the public and private sectors, including measures as having employees who master sign language, the Braille system, or other alternative means that help resolve the need for information and communication of blind and deaf persons inclusively. Also, set a target of 4 percent of all employees being people with disabilities, and providing them decision-making positions.
o Support programs that open employment opportunities by building capacities of persons with disabilities through professional and/or technical training allowing them to achieve good performance and self-sufficiency.
o Support professional entrepreneurship training and financial programs for people with disabilities, granting appropriate skills and loans for setting up enterprises.
o Support public education and awareness campaigns for eradication of any form of discrimination against people with any type of disability. 28
• Include life skills training that promote independence and empowerment on human rights as part of all employment and/or entrepreneurship training. • Promote the political participation of people with disabilities. • Create public policies for the care of people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities confined in psychiatric health facilities and detention centers or living on the streets. • Advocate for the prohibition of forced sterilization of women and girls with disabilities. 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. CONAIPD (2016). Encuesta Nacional de Personas con Discapacidad 2015. Primera Lectura de Datos. San Salvador, Government of El Salvador. May 2016. 2. CONAIPD (2016). Encuesta Nacional de Personas con Discapacidad 2015: Primera lectura de datos. El Salvador. 3. CONAIPD (2018). Política Nacional de Atención Integral a las Personas con Discapacidad. El Salvador. 2018 edition. 4. CONAIPD. Recopilación de Normativa sobre Derechos de Personas con Discapacidad. El Salvador. 5. CONAIPD and OSN (2014). Norma Técnica Salvadoreña NTS 11.69.01:14. Accesibilidad al medio físico. Urbanismo y Arquitectura. Requisitos. El Salvador. 6. CONAIPD, UNICEF and DIGESTIC (2015). Análisis y caracterización de las personas con discapacidad a partir de la encuesta nacional 2015. El Salvador. 7. Diario Oficial No. 95, Tomo 347, 24 de mayo 2000. Decreto Legislativo No. 888 del 27 de Abril del 2000. Ley de Equiparación de oportunidades para las personas con discapacidad. 8. Diario Oficial No. 226, Tomo 349, 1 de diciembre de 2000. Decreto Ejecutivo No. 99. Reglamento de la Ley de Equiparación de Oportunidades para las personas con discapacidad.
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III. LGBTI IN EL SALVADOR 1.0 BACKGROUND Population estimates for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex population (LGBTI) in El Salvador are not available. Unlike in the case of Persons with Disabilities, a national survey has never been conducted nor does the national census include them. Self-recognition of these identities is key in any population count. The social acceptance and level of prejudice against what are considered gender identities and sexual orientations that deviate from the accepted norm of male and female and heterosexual orientation influence the number of persons that are counted. The case of the United States illustrates this point well. The 2018 Gallup Poll to track LGBTI identification resulted in 4.5 percent of the population self-identifying in this category. This average changed according to the generation involved. The highest percentage was 8.2 percent among Millennials (born between 1980 and 1999), followed by 3.5 percent of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1979), 2.4 percent of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and1964), and 1.4 percent of Traditionalists (born before 1946).5 According to Gary Gates, LGBTI demographics expert and former director of the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, the response of Millennials is not surprising since social acceptance of the LGBTI population has increased substantially over the last decade in the United States, and those changes have been more pronounced in younger populations. He says that today’s youth have peers and social networks that are more supportive of LGBTI people and issues compared to older generations. It could be said, by comparison, that El Salvador has not reached the U.S. Millennials’ levels of acceptance. In this society, the consequences of being identified as LGBTI, and particularly as a transgender woman, are to become the target of violence by gangs and state agents and to be exposed to more cruel and torturous forms of violence leading to death. Socially, from an early age, testimonials say that this recognition leads to exclusion by family, school peers and teachers, and street populations (as potential clients of informal sector activities or as potential employees). It is not surprising then to find that the LGBTI population’s education levels of achievement are low, that their income levels are low, and that those most vulnerable are living in high risk areas where they can afford housing. The following sections analyze how exclusion comes about for persons identified as LGBTI. A glossary with definitions introduces these sections to facilitate a common understanding to the issues discussed. 1.1 Glossary6 The following definitions will facilitate understanding the situation of LGBTI persons presented in this Analysis. Gender binary: The spectrum-based classification of gender into the two categories of either man or woman based on biological sex.
5 “A record 4.5 percent of U.S. Adults identify as LBGBT, Gallup estimates.” May 25, 2018. Found in: https:/www. nbcnews.com. 6 Taken from: LGBTIQ+ communities. Glossary of common terms. CFCA Resource Sheet, May 2017. 30
Gender identity: Refers to an inner sense of oneself as man, woman, masculine, feminine, neither, both, or moving around freely between or outside of the gender binary. • Asexual: A sexual orientation that reflects little to no sexual attraction, either within our outside relationships. People who identify as asexual can still experience romantic attraction across the sexuality continuum. • Bisexual: An individual who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both men and women. • Cisgender/Cis: Term used to describe people whose gender corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth. • Gay: An individual who identifies as a man and is sexually and/or romantically attracted to other people who identify as men. The term gay can also be used in relation to women who are sexually and romantically attracted to other women. • Heterosexual: An individual who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to the opposite gender. • Intersex: An umbrella term that refers to individuals who have anatomical, chromosomal, and hormonal characteristics that differ from medical and conventional understandings of male and female bodies. Intersex people may be “neither wholly female nor wholly male; a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male”, (Sex Discrimination Amendment Act [Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status] 2013 [Cth]). • Lesbian: An individual who identifies as a woman and is sexually and/or romantically attracted to other people who identify as women. • Pansexual: An individual whose sexual and/or romantic attraction to others is not restricted by gender. A pansexual may be sexually and/or romantically attracted to any person, regardless of their gender identity. • Queer: A term used to describe a range of sexual orientations and gender identities. Although once used as a derogatory term, the term queer now encapsulates political ideas of resistance to heteronormativity and homonormativity and is often used as an umbrella term to describe the full range of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and related communities’ (LGBTIQ+) identities. • Sexual orientation: Refers to an individual’s sexual and romantic attraction to another person. This can include, but is not limited to, heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or asexual. It is important to note, however, that these are just a handful of sexual identifications—the reality is that there are an infinite number of ways in which someone might define their sexuality. • Transgender/Trans/Gender diverse: Umbrella terms to refer to people whose assigned sex at birth does not match their internal gender identity, regardless of whether their gender is outside the gender binary or within it. Homophobia and biphobia: Refer to negative beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes about people who are not heterosexual.
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Transphobia: Refers to negative beliefs, prejudices, and stereotypes that exist about transgender and gender diverse people. 2.0 FINDINGS 2.1 Domain 1: Legal and Normative Framework There is no special international convention for the special rights of the LGBTI population as there is for women or discrimination based on race. LGBTI persons must rely on the UN International Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights that recognize the right to life, physical integrity, equality, and lawfulness protection without any type of discrimination. In the Americas, the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José, 1969) is the main legal instrument for the States in the Americas, which establishes the competency of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its jurisdiction. In 2006, a panel of experts on human rights met in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and formulated the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. These principles outline the obligations of States on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics enabling LGBTI individuals to enjoy their rights as any other person in society. In 2008, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) issued its Resolution AG/RES. 2435 (XXXVIII-0/08) entitled Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity. It reiterates the rights to equality and non-discrimination in the exercise of rights and freedoms inherent in the human person, especially the right to life, liberty, and personal safety, and expresses concern for the acts of violence and violations against persons due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. Subsequently, the UN General Assembly in December 2008 issued a similar declaration acknowledging the concerns highlighted by the OAS’s declaration. However only a few countries signed it, not including El Salvador. An assessment of legislation on the human rights of the LGBTI population in El Salvador7 shows that in recent years a legal, political, and strategic framework to highlight and address violations to the human rights of the LGBTI population has been constructed. These advancements are reflected by: the implementation of Executive Degree No. 56 in 2010 to prevent discrimination due to gender identity and/or sexual orientation in public institutions; the creation of the Directorate for Sexual Diversity (DSD) within the former SIS also in 2010, to promote Executive Decree No. 568; and the 2012 establishment of a Permanent Table on the Rights of the LGBTI Population in the PDDH. In 2015, reforms were made to the Processing Penal Code Articles 129 and 155 that included crimes motivated by hate. However, procedural aspects were not included, nor were substantive reforms made to the Criminal Procedure Code and other laws that, given the cultural character of the discriminatory behavior against the expressions of gender identity and sexual orientation
7 Mendizabal, M. 2012. Diagnóstico Jurídico sobre DDHH de la población LGBTI de El Salvador. S.S. Centro de Estudios Internacionales; Comcavis Trans, Embajada de Noruega. 8 In 2019, with the dissolving of the SIS, the Directorate of Sexual Diversity (DSD) is expected to become a dependency of the newly created Ministry of Culture. 32
and the lack of knowledge and capacity of these concepts, can impact negatively in the correct diligence, investigation, and sanction of these type of crimes. In terms of the right to work, due to promotion actions and facilitation efforts of the DSD, other advancements have been achieved. In March 2019, a Letter of Commitment was signed between the Ministry of Labor and members of the LGBTI Federation to promote the fulfilment of the rights to access decent employment. This includes the implementation of a manual and guide for the inspection of work in places of employment and to promote a recently formulated Index for Institutional Inclusion as a tool with minimum indicators for guaranteeing services that are inclusive and respectful for LGBTI persons; the Index enables measuring advances in the implementation of Executive Decree No. 56. 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms Preventing LGBTI Human Rights According to informants in the FGDs with LGBTI organizations, discrimination begins at home in the form of rejection once the family discovers a tendency that deviates from society’s acceptable norm in gender identity or sexual orientation. LGBTI individuals experience this rejection from a young age. When they go to school, they hope things will be better but instead they are subject to bullying, verbal and physical abuse from schoolmates, and discrimination by teachers, all of which causes them to leave school as early as possible. Among the lower income segments, LGBTI individuals have attained low levels of education and when they leave their homes and school, they often end up as sex workers or dealing with drugs. This panorama fits especially the case of transgender women, who are the most discriminated—even in the informal sector where they make a living. According to an evaluation of the Salvadoran State’s political-criminal performance on the management of hate crimes against LGBTI
Photo III.1: Workers from the LGBTI community publicly demand protection of rights during the May 1, 2018 Labor Day march in San Salvador. Photo credit: Vanesa Pocasangre/USAID’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Initiative
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persons,9 key informants—authorities of public institutions— indicated the cultural factor as a predominant reason for the failure to apply policies for the protection and access to justice of the LGBTI population. They also recognized that the proposed legislation for the protection of the LGBTI population and the LEIV were similar in that both target populations that suffer from situations of discrimination, vulnerability and inequality that generally culminate in acts of violence. They also acknowledged the fact that the LEIV has been difficult to implement in prosecuting relevant cases because it needs to be accompanied by a process of cultural deconstruction.10 Assignation of typologies in the LEIV has been made according to standards unfamiliar to most of the Salvadoran Justice System, and this has made it difficult to judge or prosecute cases. For example, cases of femicides are labeled as homicides with different aggravating circumstances, rather than femicides, under the argument that it is difficult to establish the type of relationship between the aggressor and the victim as well as providing a precedent of violence if the incident was not reported. A similar situation arises with hate crimes against LGBTI persons, as the establishment of the preceding behavior as an aggression evidencing a hate crime is difficult to prove. The LEIV has solved this by establishing specialized courts with more expert professionals to try these crimes. The Criminal Code amendment did not include regulations for specialized management of these crimes. 2.2.1 Self-Reliance Matrix – Indicator 2.1.1.1: Perception of quality of public services In the period 2013-2019, security related public services, particularly in institutions that are supposed to protect the population, have been reported as aggressors through SIS *131 assistance line. See Text Box 1 below. Text Box 1: Attention and Assistance Line *131 of the Secretariat for Social Inclusion
Reported cases of aggression to Assistance Line *131 of the SIS Of all cases reported, 63 percent pertained to the National Civilian Police (PNC); 34 percent to the Metropolitan Enforcement Agents (CAM); and 3 percent to the Armed Forces. All of these institutions were reported as having engaged in verbal violence (38 percent of the cases); psychological violence (34 percent); physical violence (34 percent); sexual violence (3 percent); and economic violence (1 percent) against transgender women (55 percent), gay men (24 percent), lesbians (17 percent), cisgender heterosexual persons (2 percent), transgender men (1 percent), and bisexual persons (1 percent). The incidents were reported in San Salvador (55 percent), San Miguel (18 percent), Usulután (8 percent), La Libertad (7 percent), Santa Ana and Morazán (4 percent each), Ahuachapán (3 percent), and San Vicente (1 percent). There were also reports of vulnerating of the rights of transgender women, who requested SIS’ support to address these cases of institutionalized violence. A total of nine incidents were reported, all pertaining executive branch institutions (five incidents at the Ministry of Health,
9 Rivera Madrid, L.E., and I.A. Turcios Rosales. 2018. Evaluación de la gestión político-criminal del Estado Salvadoreño en casos de crímenes por odio contra la población LGBTI. Heinrich Böll Stiftung Centro America. El Salvador. 10 Rivera Madrir, 2018, p. 19. 34
two at the Ministry of Agriculture, one at ISDEMU’s office in Ahuachapán, and one in La Esperanza Prison Center in San Salvador).
2.3 Domain 3: Access to Equal Rights 2.3.1 Access to Protection and Personal Integrity Cases of persons whose gender identity or sexual orientation fall in the categories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex are based on discrimination of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Qualitative information on constant discrimination against LGBTI persons and the highly aggressive and cruel nature of the violence suffered by transgender women leading to homicides exist in diverse investigative journalism reports and in NGOs’ investigations. However, reports on the number of incidents are inconsistent as institutions report fewer homicides of LGBTI than the count kept by the monitoring of their organizations. The sources below illustrate this situation. The article “When one does not exist alive or dead in El Salvador”11states that the Criminal Code reform increased the penalty for threats or assassinations motivated by hate or gender intolerance from 30 years to 50 years in prison; however, crimes of rape and aggressions motivated by hate were not included. The article also states that according to the DSD, between 1993-2017, an estimated 600 LGBTI persons were assassinated because of gender identity/sexual orientation in El Salvador (this figure is based on a reconstruction by a CSO)12 and, in the last three years alone, an estimated 145 of these persons were assassinated. The article also states that, although 23 homicides had been committed between January and September 2017, based on data provided by the Association Communicating and Training TRANS Women in El Salvador (COMCAVIS-TRANS), the Office of the Public Prosecutor (FGR) had only registered five in the first semester. This number included the publicized murder of three transgender women in La Paz that led to the arrest of eight gang members and resulted in six transgender women deciding to flee to the United States. According to the PDDH, 19 murders of transgender women are all still in the investigation phase. The PDDH has also received 79 official accusations from LGBTI persons against authority figures, such as PNC agents, CAM agents, the Armed Forces, staff from the FGR, the Directorate-General of Prisons, and the ministries of Health and of Education. Yet, the FGR registered only eight judicial processes due to threats and wounds by policemen and military officers against LGBTI collective members between 2015 and 2016. Investigators of Georgetown University in their
11 Available in: Abarca, B. and M. Morales. 2017. “When one does not exist alive or dead in El Salvador”. Collaboration for the report “Nobody Cared”. Journalists of La Prensa Gráfica. https://www.eltiempo.com/datos/homicidios-en- el-salvador-contra-la-comunidad-lgbt-157060 12 Also stated in Human Rights Watch 2019. Available in: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country- chapters/el-salvador#194231. Rivera and Turcios 2018 in Page 79 states this is an estimate by COMCAVIS-TRANS since 1993, while Asociación Entre Amigos estimated 500 since 1999.
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2017 report “Uniformed Injustice”13 criticized the FGR because it did not have a registry of cases taken to trial and penalties imposed since the 2015 Criminal Code reform on hate crimes. The article also states that during an audience with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Salvadoran government informed that it had investigated 109 cases of homicides against LGBTI and taken 12 cases to trial between 2014 and 2017. The Georgetown report found that the rate of impunity for crimes against LGBTI persons is extremely high (around 94 percent).14 Fear of reprisals is the reason for not denouncing, also the lack of financial resources to mobilize to the capital city to engage in the bureaucratic process. Forced displacement of transgender women surviving attacks is reported as another consequence of the fear and the distrust of the judicial system. According COMCAVIS-TRANS knowledge, 20 cases of forced internal and external displacement of transgender women had occurred up to September 2017. The Georgetown report found that in relation to human rights of LGBTI, violations were of three main types: violations perpetrated against defenders of their human rights; abuses by agents of the law including the police and the army; and obstacles in the access to justice and accountability. It also stated that while high levels of violence affect the entire population, violence against LGBTI is characterized by hate, dehumanization, homophobia, and transphobia. They face frequent threats of abuse and discrimination, and many LGBTI persons consider fleeing the country. It also found that although recent legal reforms were made to protect sexual minorities, social prejudices are still deeply ingrained, resulting in “persistent forms of systematic violence by state agents,” extending to crimes and aggressions motivated by hate or prejudice from individuals or specific social groups. The absence of accountability processes helps perpetrators to act with impunity, continuing the cycle of violence and discrimination. From another source, Rivera and Turcios (2018) indicate that the “U.S. Department of State 2016, El Salvador Human Rights Report”15 states that members of the PNC and the FGR ridiculed LGBTI persons when denouncing cases of violence, and that the FGR had not processed any case of homicide and other violent acts performed by public officers against LGBTI persons, while the SIS reported 11 LGBTI persons murdered that year due to their sexual orientation, and the PDDH reported that 18 persons had been murdered due to their sexual orientation since 2009.16 Also, the same Report presents 2009-2017 figures from the PNC showing 78 homicides (58 percent), 29 injuries (21 percent), and 28 threats (21 percent) against LGBTI. There were peaks in homicides in 2011-2012 and again in 2016 (ten homicides), while lesions and threats also increased drastically from two incidents in 2015 to 26 in 2016. Geographically, San Salvador
13 Human Rights Institute. 2017. Uniformed Injustice. State Violence against LBGT in El Salvador. Washington, D.C. Georgetown University Faculty of Law. 14 The report cites “around 94 percent” as the rate of impunity for homicides in El Salvador. The source given is Roque Planas, How el Salvador Became the World´s Most Violent Peacetime Country. WorldPost, 4 de marzo de 2016, recuperado de: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/el-salvador-most-violent- country_us_56d9e239e4b0000de4047fbe. 15 Quoted by Rivera and Turcios, 2018 as U.S. Department of State. El Salvador 2016 Human Rights Report, 2017. Available in HTTPS://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/ndex.htm?year=2016&dlid=265586#wrapper, visited September 18, 2017. 16 Rivera and Turcios, 2018, p. 76. 36
accounted for 40 percent of the total, San Miguel 12.6 percent, while Santa Ana, Usulután, and La Paz 7.4 percent each. (Rivera Madrid, 2018, p. 89) 2.3.2 Access to Security According to declarations from PNC representatives (Rivera and Turcios, 2018, p. 60), a relationship between organized crime and hate crimes is the instrumentalization used by maras and gangs to achieve delinquent purposes against LGBTI persons, such as smuggling of drugs, money, and other crimes. These cases often lead to the assassination of the instrumental person and are not perceived as hate crimes. Such instrumentalization, especially of transgender women sex workers who work on streets where gangs are in control, also leads to a relatively high rate of arrest and imprisonment under conditions that do not recognize their gender identity and special needs. Discrimination and violence due to gender identity and sexual orientation can also be evidenced by the number of calls made during the period of 2013-2019 to the former SIS’ Attention and Assistance Line *131.17 The analysis of the source of calls, location of incidents, and case typology provides the following evidence: • From a total of 2,014 calls, 65 percent reported aggressions typified in the following categories: psychological violence (51 percent), verbal violence (28 percent), physical violence (13 percent), sexual violence (6 percent), and economic-patrimonial violence (2 percent). Typology was based on definitions from the LEIV and the OAS. • The majority of calls were made by transgender women (30 percent), gay men (30 percent), and cisgender heterosexual women (27 percent). To a lesser extent, calls were from lesbians (8 percent), bisexual persons (3 percent), and transgender men and intersexual persons (1 percent each). • The source of the aggressions were primarily street harassments (26 percent), from security agents and the justice sector (25 percent), family (17 percent), in place of work (10 percent), in private sector establishments (5 percent), from their partner (5 percent), from health establishments (4 percent), from the community (3 percent), from gang and forced displacement (2 percent), and from education establishments and prison centers (1 percent each). • In the family setting, the largest percentage of reports were from transgender women (32 percent), cisgender heterosexual women (27 percent), gay men (19 percent), lesbians (15 percent), and intersex persons (7 percent). • Intrafamily violence reported by cisgender heterosexual women had a man as the aggressor in 100 percent of the cases. The type of violence reported was psychological (32 percent), verbal (28 percent), physical (26 percent), economic-patrimonial (7 percent) and sexual (7 percent). • Reported cases caused by security and justice corps were from transgender women (55 percent), gay men (24 percent), lesbians (17 percent), cisgender heterosexual persons (2
17 SIS. 2019. Reporte Estadístico Línea de Atención y Asistencia 131. El Salvador. Draft document provided by the Directorate for Sexual Diversity. SIS during an interview with the Director on April 1, 2019. 37
percent), and transgender men and bisexual persons (1 percent each). Institutions reported were the PNC (63 percent of the cases), CAM (34 percent), and the Armed Forces (3 percent). Geographically, the department of San Salvador accounted for 55 percent of the cases, followed by San Miguel (18 percent), Usulután (8 percent), La Libertad (7 percent), Santa Ana and Morazán (4 percent each), Ahuachapán (3 percent) and San Vicente (1 percent). The type of violence reported in these incidents were: verbal violence (38 percent of the cases), psychological violence (34 percent), physical violence (34 percent), sexual violence (3 percent), and economic violence (1 percent). Transgender women who reported these aggressions placed them in San Salvador (45 percent of the cases), in San Miguel (32 percent), and, to a lesser degree, in Usulután (10 percent), Santa Ana and Ahuachapán (6 percent), and La Libertad (1 percent). Lesbians reported this type of aggression in four departments: San Salvador (47 percent of cases), La Libertad (29 percent), Usulután (18 percent), and Santa Ana (6 percent); gay men reported them in five departments: San Salvador (75 percent), Morazán (11 percent), La Libertad (8 percent), and San Miguel and San Vicente (3 percent each). • Aggressions occurred in the private sector have been reported by transgender women (63 percent of these cases), gay men (33 percent), and lesbians (4 percent). The type of establishments reported are: beauty salons (21 percent), the largest shopping center in San Salvador (16 percent), smaller shopping centers (16 percent), pharmacies and hotels (11 percent each), banks (10 percent), and restaurants, driving schools, and others (5 percent each). • Health establishments have been reported by gay men (50 percent of the cases), transgender women (39 percent), lesbians (11 percent), and heterosexual women (6 percent). The types of establishments are: national hospitals (50 percent of the cases), Salvadoran Social Security institutions (25 percent), and health units (25 percent). The locations of these establishments were: San Salvador (67 percent), La Paz (17 percent), and La Libertad and San Miguel (8 percent each). • Most cases of street aggressions are reported by transgender women (72 percent), gay men (17 percent), lesbian women (10 percent), and transgender men (1 percent). Incidents have occurred in San Salvador (57 percent of the cases), San Miguel (19 percent), Usulután (8 percent), Morazán (5 percent), La Libertad and Santa Ana (4 percent each), and San Vicente, Ahuachapán, and La Paz (1 percent each). Priorities stated by LGBTI organizations that participated in the Collaborative Route for Inclusion and Human Rights 2018 for vulnerable groups carried out by USAID’s Rights and Dignity Activity18 confirm this assessment on access to equal rights. Their stated priorities in 2017-2018 were: • To have a legal framework to protect them, particularly the approval of the proposed law for gender identity and its regulations; to promote a comprehensive law for human rights defenders, its regulation and protection protocol, and to promote the approval of a law against discrimination and exclusion.
18 See Hoja de Ruta Colaborativa de Inclusión y Derechos Humanos 2018. Mujeres, LGBTI, Personas con Discapacidad y Jóvenes. Proyecto Derechos y Dignidad. USAID, Counterpart International, Partners El Salvador. 38
• To ensure the delivery of public services without stigma and discrimination towards the LGBTI population, particularly an inclusive education policy, an inclusion policy for the labor sector, and programs for enterprise, employment, and cooperatives. • To advance in access to justice and making compensations for victims of hate crimes by strengthening trust in the institutions responsible for investigations, processing and sentencing crimes; and to promote actions in favor of victims by the Table for the Attention of Victims of the MJSP, and other institutions of the Justice Sector. • To modify the curricula of training schools of the judiciary and prosecution to include themes related to LGBTI populations. • With regards to strengthening civil society, to design a strategy to support strengthening their organizations to become sustainable, and to complement legal assistance with multidisciplinary assistance, psychological care, and accompaniment for families of LGBTI victims. 2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making 2.4.1 Violation of the Right to Form Legal Organizations Historically, this population group has been denied access to having legalized organizations. During El Salvador’s government administration periods 1999-2000 and 2004-2009, requests to the Ministry of the Interior to legalize two CSOs, “Entre Amigos” (Among Friends) and Solidarity Association to Promote Human Development (ASPIDH), were denied, with authorities arguing that the organizations were contrary to public order, morals, the law, and good customs.19 Before 2009, LGBTI were a target group for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) programs and, as such, were used as allies to access resources from the Global Fund, since internationally it was acknowledged that the involvement of the LGBTI collective was a key factor in HIV/AIDS prevention. The requirements to access these projects became increasingly technical, and groups that were formed to participate in the projects were forced to learn and were trained by partner cooperants. Thus, their organizational capacity began to formalize. After 2009, with the social inclusion policies promoted by president Funes’ administration (governing under the FMLN), Executive Decree No. 56 was issued, the SIS was created, and within it the DSD was established to provide training and technical support to other public institutions to comply with the Decree. For the first time, as an alliance for LGBTI activities, they engaged in dialogue with the First Lady (SIS Secretary) that fostered their inclusion in the line of eradicating discrimination, and they demanded an office within the newly created SIS to respond to the needs of the LGBTIQ+ population (Torres, 2018, p. 96). The new policies enabled organizational strengthening of LGBTI, as they were able to establish a dialogue with representatives of the State and participated in the design and implementation of public policies against discrimination. Since 2010, legal recognition was granted to gay and transgender organizations that had applied for legality in the previous five years. This was made possible also by the resolution of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice
19 Torres, C. 2018. Participación Política del Colectivo LGBTIQ en El Salvador. El Salvador: UCA. Tesis para optar al grado de maestro en Ciencia Política, p. 84. 39
(December 9, 2009) stating that constitutionally, exclusion from the enjoyment of fundamental rights based on discrimination for reasons of sexual preference or orientation was inadmissible. Participation in decision-making affairs was made possible as the Permanent Table on Human Rights of LGBTI was established in May 2012 within the PDDH. Other access opened slowly in the Directorate-General of Prisons, in the PNC, in the MJSP, in the National Registry Center, in the National Registry of Natural Persons, and in the Ministry of Labor. In the 2014 administration, LGBTI organizations were consulted during the discussions for the formulation of the government’s Five-Year Development Plan 2014-2019, being the first time, the sector was included as a priority population in a government plan. Important allies from the 2014-2019 administration have been the Ministry of Health, Violeta Menjívar (ever since she was mayor of San Salvador and issued the first formal decree of nondiscrimination for the LGBTI in the municipality); the Ministry of Labor, Sandra Guevara, and SIS’ secretary general, Vanda Pignato. They were the first to open official dialogue settings with the sector, held awareness campaigns, and issued institutional regulations to guarantee the delivery of services free of stigma and discrimination. In 2014, for the first time the Supreme Electoral Tribunal opened an opportunity to have electoral observers of the LGBTI sector to guarantee access to vote for the sector, issuing an instruction for not preventing the vote of the transgender and transsexual population whose gender identity is different from the legal names printed on their identity document. In the 2018 municipal elections, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), four persons from the sector were hired to conduct awareness raising processes with temporal electoral bodies at the national level. This process was increased with the hiring of 14 persons in the 2019 presidential elections. In 2017, the FGR engaged in discussions with the LGBTI sector and issued a specialized assistance protocol for vulnerable populations with a section for LGBTI persons and, in May 2018, created a specialized unit to address them. Advancements achieved in access to justice have been favored by the international context, where more agile mechanisms to reach the Inter-American Human Rights Court resulting from the collaboration of agencies like the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) that encourage and provide professional support to present their demands to the Court. Previous PDDH administrations also strengthened the capacity for lobbying and making visible the sector (Torres, 2018, pp.102-103). LGBTI activism has matured, reaching an understanding that they are the holders of their rights and of their ability to get positive results with their advocacy efforts, now having more tools to respond with when something affects them; they have also generated a public perception that they are persons with a lives that go beyond the misconception of HIV. In 2017, the LGBTI Salvadoran Federation was formed with 17 LGBTI organizations including both the oldest one and the one most recently created. This is the third federating effort. The first effort in 2007 was Coordination LGBT, with three organizations, that prepared an assessment for the Municipality of San Salvador; the second was the Alliance for Sexual Diversity, with eight organizations and engaging in negotiations with the first FMLN government in 2009. The third effort resulted from pressure exerted by donors to deal with a block instead of individual organizations and the recognition by the organizations of each LGBTI sub-group that
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they had common strategic interests that could be advanced more quickly by acting together. The Federation, enriched with technical skills, includes new sectors such as independent youth, university students, and former youth from the ARENA political party.
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2.4.2 Issues of Gender Equality within the LGBTI There are gaps in income and privileges within the LGBTI collective. According to Torres, 2018, “…the identity of gay men in relation to the other identities has little empathy…they control [relations with] international organizations and government representation…The lesbian identity continues being overlooked because they are women in a machista society. [When they say] We lesbians are not in any place of power, they are referring to the fact that it is gay men and trans women who, so far, have been able to affirm their identities.” 20 Although inquiries were made with the organizations and with the PDDH regarding LGBTI persons and disabilities, no relevant information was available regarding numbers and instances, at this time. Age and diverse gender identity or sexual orientation during the research have been more obvious between youth and young adults. The literature review and institutional KIIs concur in that life expectancy among transgender women is 35 years due to being targets of hate crimes. Regarding LGBTI and indigenous persons, key informants from one of the organizations indicated that in their work at municipal level—in Izalco—they came across two persons who acknowledged their indigenous origin and their gender identity and sexual orientation. They indicated that their families were very conservative and had not accepted them once they became aware of their sexual orientation, adding that they suffered street bullying and intimidations. Their situation was not easy to bear. In one focus FGD, a participant from the western region acknowledged an indigenous origin as well as belonging to the LGBTI community; this person was highly empowered in promoting equal rights for all and indicated that the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bridges to Employment Activity was effective in making participants feel equally included, adding that the Life Skills component was effective in raising their awareness to prejudice and discrimination and to acting inclusively in the program. It was also found that a special office within the University of El Salvador has been established to provide a place where LGBTI students, as well as heterosexual women, can place discrimination and violence complaints occurring within the university’s community. If incidents happen within the university’s jurisdiction, the university can take actions against perpetrator students and professors to prevent and punish LGBTI violations regarding human rights and physical and psychological health. 3.0 CONCLUSIONS In Security, the LGBTI are a very relevant group since, compared to the other vulnerable groups, they are a clear target for violence related to hate crimes. There is no special legal framework for the protection of the rights of the LGBTI population, nationally or internationally. They must rely on fundamental human rights conventions and national laws and piecemeal regulations for protection from discrimination (Executive Decree
20 Page 106. 42
No. 56, for the public sector) and from the most extreme forms of violence (Criminal Code articles 129 and 151 regarding stiffer penalties for aggravated homicide due to hate crimes). On the other hand, they are targets of both gang violence that make them instrumental in their crimes and are abused by justice operators particularly police and municipal police forces. Hate crimes have caused transgender women to migrate, and lesbian women have been observed migrating in caravans. In the last decade, their organizations have proliferated and worked together and, as proven during this Analysis, the recently established Federation is a reliable mechanism for consultation. The raised profile of LGBTI issues and organizations and the increased availability of sexual and reproductive health has enabled current youth to explore their gender identities and sexual orientation at an earlier age. Thus, working with young people requires high sensitivity towards identifying if they are exploring or have defined their gender identity or sexual orientation to ensure their effective inclusion in USAID activities and find out if they are victims of a discrimination that may escalate. In regards to an inclusive treatment of LGBTI persons in public institutions, the achievements of the DSD in the former SIS show that establishing it was an effective strategy and a good practice. Particularly effective was defining its role as facilitator in the implementation of Executive Decree No. 56 in public institutions, which indirectly strengthened the social capital of the LGBTI communities by increasing their united action as a federation. This could be a good practice to emulate in promoting the inclusion of other vulnerable groups. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS • For an effective inclusion into USAID activities, it is recommended to make alliances with the LGBTI Federation and its member organizations to:
o Strengthen their capacity for advocacy, to manage their organization, and to achieve financial sustainability.
o To become a channel to reach LGBTI segments of target groups of USAID activities.
o To learn from them how to effectively include LGBTI individuals in the activities. • To strengthen capacity for advocacy to develop special legislation and/or international conventions for the protection of human rights of LGBTI persons. • To strengthen LGBTI organizations capacity for advocacy to effectively promote the proposal for a law of identity in the National Legislative Assembly. • That gender equality activities incorporate issues of gender identity and sexual orientation within its mandates, to ensure the nondiscrimination of LGBTI individuals. This is particularly relevant to Gender Units implementing Institutional Gender Equality and nondiscrimination policies, and to the system of justice that is implementing special tribunals for femicides and could also deal with hate crimes towards LGBTI individuals. • If it continues under the new administration, an alliance with the DSD would be constructive, both to strengthen LBGTI organization and to research the LGBTI as a population group to help formulate appropriate public policies and programs.
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5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Centro de Estudios Internacionales and Mendizábal, M. (2012). Diagnóstico jurídico sobre Derechos Humanos de la Población LGBTI de El Salvador. San Salvador. Junio 2012. 2. Centro de Estudios Internacionales and COMCAVIS Trans., Mendizábal, M. (2012). Sondeo de Percepción de los Derechos Humanos de Población LGBTI de El Salvador. San Salvador. February 2013. 3. CIPAC and ESMULES (2015). Situación de población adulta mayor LGBT en El Salvador. San Salvador, El Salvador. April 2016 edition. 4. Clínica Legal de Derechos Humanos Internacionales (2012). Diversidad Sexual en El Salvador. Un informe sobre la situación de los derechos humanos de la comunidad LGBT. Berkeley. Universidad de California, Facultad de Derecho. July 2012. 5. COMCAVIS TRANS, Synergia Iniciativas por los Derechos Humanos and Akahatá, (2018). Situación de las Personas Lesbianas, Gay, Bisexuales, Trans e Intersexuales (LGBTI) en El Salvador. Enero 2018. Situational report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee 122nd. Session March 12 to April 6 2018. San Salvador. 2018 6. Estudios de Acción Humanitaria, (2018). La Situación de las personas LGBTI del norte de Centro América con necesidades de protección internacional en Guatemala y México. Madrid. AECID, 2018. 7. Heartland Alliance. and American University College of Law. (2015). Violaciones de Derechos Humanos de las Personas Transgénero en El Salvador. Lista de Cuestiones sometida a las Naciones Unidas Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos. San Salvador. February 2015. 8. Human Rights First (2016). Violencia Motivada por Prejuicio Contra las Personas LGBT en El Salvador. Thematic Report. 9. Human Rights Institute. (2017). Uniformed Injustice: State Violence against LBGT People in El Salvador. Washington, DC. Georgetown Law Center. April 21, 2017. 10. Human Rights Watch (2019). El Salvador. Events of 2018. Downloaded from: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/el-salvador#194231 11. Inter American Commission on Human Rights (2015). Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas. OAS. November 12, 2015. 12. Inter American Commission on Human Rights (2015). Violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Persons in the Americas. OAS. November 12, 2015. 13. Members of the Drafting Committee (2017). The Yogyakarta Principles plus 10. Additional Principles and State Obligations on The Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics to Complement the Yogyakarta Principles. As adopted on November 10, 2017. Geneva. www.yogyakartaprinciples.org. Downloaded from: http://yogyakartaprinciples.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/11/A5_yogyakartaWEB-2.pdf 14. Members of the Drafting Committee (2007). The Yogyakarta Principles. Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender
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Identity. Geneva. March 2007. www.yogyakartaprinciples.org. Downloaded from: http://yogyakartaprinciples.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/principles_en.pdf 15. Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social, (2019). Carta Compromiso entre Organizaciones Integrantes de la Mesa LGBTI y el Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social (Período 2019-2020). El Salvador. 16. Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (PDDH), (2012). Informe sobre la situación de los Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres Trans en El Salvador. San Salvador: PNUD. May 2013. 17. Rivera and Turcios (2018). Evaluación de la Gestión Político-Criminal del Estado en Casos de Crímenes por Odio contra la Población LGBTI. Heinrich Boll Stiftung Centroamérica. El Salvador. 18. Secretaría de Inclusión Social, Ministerio de Salud and Viceministerio de Políticas de Salud (2016). Lineamientos técnicos para la atención integral en salud de la población LGBTI. El Salvador. Second edition. 19. Secretaría de Inclusión Social (2017). Índice de Inclusión Institucional: Informes de Hechos de Agresión hacia población LGBTI en El Salvador. El Salvador. First edition. 20. Torres Cornejo, C.E. (2019). La Participación política del colectivo LGBTIQ en El Salvador. Thesis prepared for the Faculty of Postgraduate to opt for the master’s in political science. El Salvador: Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas. 2019.
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IV. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN EL SALVADOR 1.0 BACKGROUND According to government sources and indigenous organizations, the original peoples in El Salvador currently are the Nahuat-pipil, Lenca, and Kakawira populations. Geographically, the Nahuat-pipil are in the western, central, and para-central regions, while the Lenca are in the Eastern region, and the Kakawira are mainly found in northern Morazán. The municipalities with indigenous peoples are listed in Table III.1. Nahuat-pipil communities exist in at least 53 municipalities, Lenca communities are present in 12 municipalities, and a Kakawira community exists in one municipality. Overall, there are 66 municipalities confirmed as having indigenous populations, representing 25.2 percent of all municipalities in El Salvador. Of these 66 municipalities, 15 are on the list of priority municipalities of the PESS. Therefore, of the 50 priority municipalities of the PESS, 30 percent have significant indigenous populations. Table IV.1: Municipalities Holding Significant Indigenous Communities1 MINEDUCYT Peoples/ PESS Municipalities by Municipalities Indigenous School Department Stage (I, II, III) Population2 NAHUAT-PIPIL Year 2016 Ahuachapán 1. Ahuahapán 1. Ahuachapan II 153 (2.3%) 2. Concepción de Ataco 3. San Francisco Menéndez 4. San Pedro Puxtla 5. Tacuba 6. Apaneca Sonsonate 7. Sonsonate (in urban and 2. Izalco II 32,466 (49% of total rural sectors 3. Nahuizalco II indigenous) 8. Caluco 4. Sonsonate I 9. Cuisnáhuat 10. Izalco 11. Juayúa 12. Nahuizalco 13. Salcoatitlán 14. San Antonio del Monte 15. San Julián 16. Santa Catarina Mazahuat 17. Santa Isabel Ishuatán
1 United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), 2011, p. 144. 2 Data from the Ministry of Education School Census 2016 to 2018. Available at: https://www.mined.gob.sv/index.php/estadisticas-educativas/item/8001-botetines-estadisticos
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MINEDUCYT Peoples/ PESS Municipalities by Municipalities Indigenous School Department Stage (I, II, III) Population2 18. Santo Domingo de Guzmán 19. Sonzacate Santa Ana 20. Texistepeque 5. Chalchuapa II 825 (1.2%) 21. Chalchuapa La Libertad 22. Jicalapa 1,982 (3.0%) 23. Chiltiupán 24. Huizúcar 25. Jayaque 26. Teotepeque 27. Tepecoyo 28. Talnique San Salvador 29. Panchimalco 6. Tonacatepeque III 6,402 (9.7%) 30. Rosario de Mora 7. Panchimalco III 31. Santiago Texacuangos 32. San Antonio Abad 33. Tonacatepeque Cuscatlán 34. Cojutepeque 8. Cojutepeque I 2,350 (3.5%) 35. San Pedro Perulapán 9. San Pedro Perulapán II 36. Santa Cruz Analquito 10. Santa Cruz Michapa III 37. Monte San Juan 38. Tenancingo 39. Santa Cruz Michapa La Paz 40. San Antonio Masahuat 11. Zacatecoluca I 344 (0.5%) 41. San Pedro Masahuat 12. Santiago Nonualco II 42. San Francisco Chinameca 13. San Pedro Masahuat III 43. San Juan Nonualco 44. Zacatecoluca 45. San Pedro Nonualco 46. Santiago Nonualco 47. San Juan Tepezontes 48. San Miguel Tepezontes 49. Santa María Ostuma San Vicente 50. Apastepeque 1,416 (2.1%) 51. San Sebastián Chalatenango 52. Tejutla 156 (0.2%) 53. Nueva Concepción Cabañas 295 (0.4%) 10 departments 53 municipalities 13 PESS LENCA Usulután 1. Jiquilisco (Los cantones 14. Jiquilisco I 1,609 (2.4%) Salinas, El Potreo y Puerto Los Ávalos), 2. Ereguayquín, 3. Ozatlán 4. Tecapán San Miguel, 5. Lolotique 1,961 (3.0%)
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MINEDUCYT Peoples/ PESS Municipalities by Municipalities Indigenous School Department Stage (I, II, III) Population2 6. Moncagua (Cantón El Jocotal) Morazán 7. Chilanga 8. Guatajiagua 9. San Simón 10. Sensembra La Unión 11. Conchagua 15. Conchagua II 367 (0.6%) 12. Yucuaiquín 4 departments 12. Municipalities 2 PESS
KAKAWIRA Morazán 1. Cacaopera 14,595 (22%) TOTAL 66 municipalities 15 66,307 (100%) Total (%) 25.2% of all municipalities 22.7% of indigenous municipalities are in the PESS priority municipalities 30.0% of PESS priority municipalities have a large indigenous presence Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), 2011, p. 144. 2.0 FINDINGS 2.1 Domain 1: Legal/Policy Framework In the past five years, despite El Salvador not recognizing constitutionally the existence of indigenous people in the country, the demands of the UN System resulted in institutional actions to deal with indigenous affairs. According to information contained in the National Action Plan for Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador (PLANPIES)3 prepared by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in 1994 the Salvadoran government created an Indigenous Affairs Unit within the National Council for Culture and Arts (CONCULTURA). In collaboration with the National Coordinating Council for Salvadoran Indigenous Peoples (CCNIS), the Unit coordinated the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Pan-American Health Organization efforts Photo IV.1: Indigenous community celebrating in areas of intercultural education. One result was the the Kakawira ceremony on Earth Day, at the banks of the Torola river in Morazán (June 22, publication “Indigenous Peoples, Health and Living 2018). Photo credit: Vanessa Conditions in El Salvador.” Pocasangre/USAID’s ME&L Initiative.
3 FAO. 2018. Plan de Acción Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas – PLANPIES. San Salvador: GOES, NU El Salvador, Equipo Nacional de Conducción Indígena. 48
Other initiatives included a forum on indigenous peoples and biological diversity, and the First National Meeting of Indigenous Women. In 2001, the Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs, Education, Environment and Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Livestock, under the coordination of CONCULTURA established a Multisectoral Technical Committee that also included indigenous representatives working with CONCULTURA. In 2003, this technical committee, supported by the World Bank, was instrumental in preparing the Profile of Indigenous Peoples in El Salvador. This is the only available assessment of this population group to date. After many decades of omission, the 2007 Census reinstated a question on ethnic or racial origin of the population, resulting in a very small count that has been questioned by indigenous organizations and human rights organizations as discussed further on in this analysis. Since 2009, during two back-to-back FMLN government administrations, institutional actions to develop a policy framework have increasingly reversed prior exclusionary trends. In 2010, at a presentation to the Convention for the Eradication of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in which the Salvadoran State delivered its reports 14 and 15 in Geneva, the speaker revealed that the policy of previous governments had been to deny the existence of any indigenous peoples and thereby to be in a legal position to also deny the practice of discrimination against them. This officially stated position led to a lack of legal recognition and the absence of any public policies for the promotion and protection of indigenous rights. Furthermore, it meant that there was no normative framework that could provide legal tools for this purpose.4 In 2014, Legislative Decree No. 707 ratified the Constitutional Reform of Article 63 to add that it “recognized indigenous peoples and will adopt public policies with the aim of maintaining and developing their ethnic and cultural identity, cosmovision, values and spirituality.” That same year, at the UN World Conference of Indigenous Peoples, El Salvador was selected as one of six pilot countries to prepare a national action plan for its indigenous peoples. In 2015, the Secretariat of Culture issued the Public Policy for the Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador;5 nevertheless, it did not include measures to align the country’s legislation with the international legal framework for their human rights. However, it did include the promotion of existing international and national legislation regarding the rights of indigenous peoples. Current legislation refers to indigenous peoples in specific articles of the Culture Act as well as in the Law to Foster, Protect and Develop the Craft/Artisanal Sector. Reformed article 63 of the Constitution also acknowledges the existence of indigenous people and proposes public policies for the preservation of their culture and identity. The ratification of the ILO Convention No. 169 continues to be under review by the National Legislature.
4 Quoted from Perez Díaz, Juan Carlos. 2016. “Identificación de los pueblos originarios con nuestra cultura ancestral.” Fortaleciendo la identidad de nuestros pueblos/Compilación de investigaciones orales y bibliográficas de jóvenes indígenas de El Salvador. San Salvador: Secretaría de Cultura de la Presidencia de El Salvador y UNESCO, p. 109. 5 Equipo Multisectorial de Pueblos Indígenas. 2015. Política Pública para los Pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador. El Salvador: Secretaría de Cultura de la Presidencia de El Salvador. Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos.
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At the municipal level, according to the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, in the Secretariat of Culture, there are six ordinances, one in each of the following municipalities: Nahuizalco (2011), Izalco (2013), Panchimalco (2014), Cuisnahuat (2014), Conchagua (2015), and Santo Domingo Guzmán (2017). All these ordinances acknowledge the presence of indigenous peoples in the respective municipalities and propose to promote their economic, social, and cultural development through actions to include the effective participation of indigenous communities, and to safeguard individual and collective rights of indigenous women, particularly sexual and reproductive rights.6 Given the historical patterns and long enduring national attitudes, this can be seen as signaling the advent of a major paradigm shift towards greater inclusion. According to the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, having the ordinances approved has been a major achievement, but these are yet to be implemented as the political will is still lacking. Institutionally, a mechanism consisting of an intersectoral working group coordinated by the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs with the participation of several other ministries was established to dialogue with indigenous representatives. In addition, bilateral tables were established at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, PDDH, Ministry of Health, and Institute for Agrarian Transformation. Nonetheless, an environment of discrimination continues to exist at the everyday institutional level. An example of a reaction triggered by the indigenous issue was cited by key informants from the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, who revealed that the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock at the intersectoral table was constantly teased by ministry colleagues for promoting indigenous-related issues. Another example is the limited budget allocated to the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs for addressing indigenous peoples’ affairs. It only covers personnel costs and has limited operating funds. They can only provide technical assistance themselves, but any other indigenous-related activities depend on seeking and obtaining external resources. In addition, colleagues in other units at the Ministry allegedly bully and ridicule the staff for advocating indigenous issues.7 According to the 2016 statement by the then president of El Salvador, the Legislative Assembly recognized the competence of the CERD Committee to examine cases presented by victims of violations of any of the rights established in the CERD. Consequently, this strengthens the guarantee to include indigenous peoples and respect their rights. As an initiative that started in 2015 and launched in 2018, FAO supported the preparation of the PLANPIES. It is part of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030—Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10—on reducing inequalities. Section 23 of the Agenda includes indigenous peoples among the priority groups. As a priority in its political/legal strategic area, PLANPIES includes the development of legal and political recognition of indigenous peoples by applying the international legal framework and updating national regulations in favor of their rights; and strengthening the public institutional framework
6 Art. 21 of municipal ordinance on the Rights of Indigenous Communities in Municipality of Nahuizalco, and similar article 20 for Izalco. Source: CLADEM, AUG. 2014 Pag. 8. 7 Key Informant Interview with the Directorate for Indigenous Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, GOES. 50
by creating an institution responsible for implementing PLANPIES. It also prioritizes mechanisms to promote the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in issues that concern them and to guarantee their autonomy. PLANPIES is not an initiative of the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs as was the Public Policy; nevertheless, it has incorporated most of the issues stated in the Public Policy. However, it did not tie activities to national budget allocations as the Policy did; thus, it did not include a strong government commitment for its implementation. The introduction of PLANPIES in the Sustainable Development Agenda, places it within the framework of agreements reached at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples in 2014. This is with regards to the formulation of national plans, and the subscription of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons of 2007. The Public Policy for Indigenous Peoples proposed that resources should come from institutional budgets and from earmarked indigenous inclusion funds in international loans. PLANPIES, on the other hand, states that “it is necessary to procure the allocation of specific funds for the activities in the plan from within available national resources and those of international cooperation.”8 What the Salvadoran National Legislative Assembly has not done, despite recommendations from the CERD Committee in 2010, is ratify the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. This although an analysis conducted by the Ministry of Labor determined that ratification would not contravene any existing law (James Anaya, June 25, 2013, paragraph 17). According to key informants from the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, there is evidence that in the 2019 presidential elections indigenous communities voted against the incumbent governing party—unlike in the past. Allegedly this voting pattern was intended to punish the sitting administration for failing to fulfill the promises made to them. According to the same informants, this is a significant change since indigenous communities have acted in solidarity with the FMLN since the war years and have continued to support their administrations. Indigenous communities were encouraged by increased dialogue and policy developments, but they noted that there have been no significant material changes in the living conditions of their communities. They point out that nothing has been done thus far to address key issues such as land, protection, and provision of resources for their economic survival. Although the Executive Branch has made motions, the Legislative Branch has not acted upon them. The existing policy framework has been outlined and its implementation would begin the inclusion of this sector of the population, with a mandate to all institutions to mainstream culturally appropriate attention to it. However, in absence of a law legitimizing the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs as the responsible entity for overseeing indigenous affairs, all of the proposed initiatives could be changed or stopped by future government administrations through issuing an executive decree. Problems caused by the lack of a special legislation concerning indigenous rights are well documented in an assessment conducted by the UNHCHR in 2011. It concluded that the Administration of Justice does not contemplate the specificity of indigenous peoples in El
8 PLANPIES, 2018, p. 45. 51
Salvador, and this limits their fundamental right to self-identification, to the recognition of their ancestral languages, and to indigenous rights. 2.1.1 Conclusions The national regulatory framework for indigenous populations in El Salvador places them only within a cultural context, since it is aimed at securing and promoting their cultural patrimony and an indigenous identity. By omission, their human rights are not protected, particularly the right to equality and nondiscrimination in their civil, political, economic, and social actions, particularly when discrimination is based on ethnicity or race. International legal protection comes from CERD, ILO Convention No. 169 for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in independent countries, the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), and agreements reached at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples in 2014. Since 2015, the latter has framed the actions of the GOES and the UN. This paved the way for the approval of the Public Policy for Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador (2015) and for the National Action Plan for Indigenous Peoples (2018). However, these measures are not backed up, either by a law providing for indigenous people’s rights or a national budget allocation for mainstreaming these rights, as stated in the Policy. So far, the National Legislative Assembly amended the Constitution to safeguard indigenous peoples’ rights but has not passed a law with an institutional mandate to mainstream culturally appropriate attention to this population; additionally, budget resources have not yet been allocated to carry out the Policy and the Action Plan. The international trend and commitment to consolidate rights of indigenous peoples has had an impact on El Salvador’s indigenous community, resulting in the growth of organizations and their capacity to advocate internationally and nationally as well as at the municipal level. However, this advocacy has not yet translated into the mainstreaming of indigenous issues at greater levels of participation in national social and economic life. 2.2 Domain 2: Cultural Norms that are Discriminatory The 2011 UNHCHR assessment of the human rights of indigenous peoples in El Salvador concluded that historical processes of struggles during the colonial and independence periods as well as commercial and political conflicts and the civil war of the 1980s, resulted in the displacement of indigenous peoples to extremely remote areas forcing them—in survival—to blend with the rest of the population. As consequence of this process, original identities of these “invisible” peoples were constructed. Not only did they culturally blended with the mestizo population, but they lost access to and ownership of traditional, ancestral lands, negatively affecting their capacity to becoming self- sustaining communities while poverty became the norm. In comparison to the rest of the population with whom they blended with as landless peasants, they lacked the educational, economic, and cultural assets required to compete on equal terms for well-paid jobs or to participate in commercial enterprises. In addition, they bore the “Indian” stigma stereotype (looks, body language, culturally-connected behavioral traits) which could not be hidden, bringing about social discrimination and exclusion on all fronts. The UN assessment states, as a prevailing idea in the roots of the Salvadoran culture, the assurance of nonexistence of indigenous people in the country. Population censuses have
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progressively made this sector invisible as they continue to eliminate the category of indigenous or self-identification when asking the individual about ethnicity. The reinstatement of the category in the Census of 2007 produced results that are strongly questioned both by indigenous organizations and by human rights institutions such as the PDDH and the CERD Committee who, based on the small number of indigenous persons counted, attributed the small numbers to indigenous persons’ historical denial of their identity and to the way the question was asked, among other issues. 2.3 Domain 3: Access to Assets and Services Education is a basic asset that enables self-sufficiency through future employment, enterprise, or production. In this regard, the alternative report on Indigenous rights to the CERD Committee, made by the Latin America and the Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women Rights (CLADEM) in 2014, stated the Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Rights of UNHCHR to the CERD in 2013 highlighted, among its recommendations, that the government should increase efforts and resources to reduce the disparity in the scores for educational performance in urban and rural areas. It noted that indigenous communities are in rural areas and the urban-rural gap reflects their living conditions. In addition, the alternative report stated that it was necessary to make greater efforts to attend indigenous concerns about having access to an education that reflects and strengthens the indigenous identity.9 PLANPIES cites a 2003 World Bank assessment of indigenous populations as the latest available source with quantitative data. It showed that 38.3 percent were in extreme poverty, 61.1 percent were below the poverty line and only 0.6 percent met their basic needs.10 Considering the high percentage of the indigenous population that can be categorized as poor according to the available information, the urban-rural gap in poverty rates would also reflect the gap between mainstream and indigenous populations. The most recent available data from the MPHS from 2014 to 2018 shows that the gap between the lowest four income deciles in urban and rural areas has ranged from 44.2 percent in 2014 to 39.9 percent in 2018, increasing and decreasing as much as 4 percent from one year to the next, except in the last two years. Thus, inequality between most of indigenous populations and the equivalent poor in urban areas is at around 40 percent. It is interesting to note that the percentage of both the rural and urban populations in these four lowest income deciles is a little over 30 percent, and that their share of the received income hovered around 16 percent during the period.
9 CLADEM, Aug. 2014, p. 19. 10 Equipo Multisectorial de Pueblos Indígenas. 2015, p. 33. This information was footnoted with the source: Perfil de los pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador. Trabajo elaborado en 2003, apoyado por varias instituciones estatales e internacionales que conformaban el Comité Técnico Multisectorial para los Pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador, entre ellas, El Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte, CONCULTURA; el Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería; Ministerio de Salud; Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales; Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de El Salvador, Ministerio de Educación; Organización Panamericana de la Salud, UNICEF; Banco Mundial RUTA (Unidad Regional de Asistencia Técnica) y varias organizaciones indígenas.
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Table IV.2: Income Gap Between the Lowest Four Deciles in Urban and Rural Areas From 2014-2017
2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 4 poorest deciles income and Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural population Population (%) 32.26 32.03 32.35 32.05 31.71 32.58 31.44 31.99 32.09 31.63 Income perceived (% of 15.29 15.48 15.72 16.08 15.72 16.15 16.06 16.28 16.03 16.02 the average income Average income 639.89 356.85 630.14 373.96 649.99 368.61 641.13 385.71 683.98 411.24 (US $) Urban-Rural 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Income Gap For poorest 4 44.2% 40.7% 43.3% 39.8% 39.9% deciles. Source: own calculation using data from the MPHS (H02, 2018) by DIGESTYC.
Institutionalized discrimination against this population is demonstrated by the invisibility created through the absence of an “ethnicity” category in data collected which could show their levels of access to basic services, such as education, health, and resources available for economic development and employment. In 2013 UNHCHR’s Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples recommended that the State should take steps to gather official data on the social and economic situation of Indigenous Peoples (Anaya, 2013). The alternative report to the CERD Committee in 2013 also stated that to redress the rights of indigenous women it was necessary to promote the collection of data disaggregated by gender. They also recommended developing a statistical system with gender disaggregated data to account for the social and economic conditions of indigenous women and men, which could be used to develop public policies that respond to identified problems.11 2.3.4 Access to Personal Security Personal integrity is a right that has been violated for centuries within the indigenous population and continues to be so. In the past century, massacres by the army led to at least 32,000 recorded deaths during the January and February 1932 uprising in indigenous communities. This included the municipalities of Izalco, Nahuizalco, Sonsonate, Ahuachapán, and Tacuba. On May 15, 2019, for the first time, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice resolved a demand of habeas corpus presented by descendants of the 1932 massacre, who want the truth to be unearthed.12 More recently, in 1983, during another conflict, 75 people were massacred by the GOES in the community of Las Hojas. There is still impunity for these deaths, all of which were viewed as being ethnically motivated and this has reinforced indigenous
11 CLADEM, 2014, p. 8. Footnoted with: “ Género y Economía. Desigualdades de género en el mercado de trabajo. La situación socioeconómica de las mujeres indígenas salvadoreñas. 2009.” 12 http://revistafactum.com/corte-masacre- 1932/?fbclid=IwAR0Uf2_jeHxeLWUDQJ25IaYtMmHqydmty2jflVRRIws7YaxhvImgbpkSNFI 54
populations across generations to try to hide their identities. It also caused many to flee their ancestral territories to live in more remote and marginal areas with no land tenure and poorer soils. At this time, the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to insecurity matches the situation that prevails in El Salvador. Testimony from a key informant indicates that in at least three cantons in Caluco the communities have been “taken over” by criminal gangs who control the indigenous population through violence (including sexual) and intimidation including death threats.13 The productive, privately titled lands that the communities had purchased have been taken over and occupied by gangs who exploit the fruits of production until they run out and then lease the properties to others or use them for their own activities.14 Every age group is prey to gang control. At an early age, boys are first forced to spy and report, and then progressively moved up to become full gang members. Reportedly girls are left alone until they reach puberty at which point parents are ordered to hand them over to become concubines of gang leaders or to undertake conjugal visits with gang members incarcerated in prisons. Should they become pregnant they are sent back home or remain at the mercy of the gang. These unwed mothers produce single parent homes and are subject to more violence. No age group is exempted. Elderly people are also forced to observe and report and are continuously robbed of what little they have. Elderly persons who receive government pensions are preyed upon monthly when payments arrive, thereby depriving them of these funds. During 2015, in some communities in cantons with indigenous communities, families targeted by gangs were forced to flee their homes under the “protection”/supervision of the police and seek shelter elsewhere. Many of these families are reported to have migrated to other countries in the region, mainly to Mexico, where they remain. A few relocated within the Central American region where some applied for asylum in developed countries. Even prior to 2015, UN’s Rapporteur for Indigenous Human Rights (Anaya, 2013) stated—in paragraph 88 of the report—that the government should redouble its efforts to combat the problem of persistent violence against indigenous women. Communities in other municipalities live under similar conditions. A testimony from a key informant, in discussing the municipality of Panchimalco, cited anthropologist Dagoberto Marroquín who in the 1950s recorded the testimony of indigenous elders about the consequences of the dispossession of their communal land. The informant states that the previous dispossession is a precursor of the current situation. Without the means of production for their own subsistence to provide for their families, males had to resort to poorly paid menial labor and females turned to domestic service or prostitution. Criminal activities became another option, thereby sowing the seeds of the violence observed since then.15
13The testimony is corroborated by news article in: https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Incrementa- violencia-en-Caluco-por-accionar-de-pandilleros-que-han-migrado-de-Izalco-20160920-0017.html 14 Testimony corroborated by news article in: https://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/nacional/comunidades-indigenas- abandonan-tierras-en-nahuizalco-por-las-pandillas/210206/2016/
15 Interview with Officer in the Ministry of Culture. Refers to Monografía de Panchimalco written by Dagoberno Marroquin, in the 1950s. 55
“Violence comes from a historical process. [There was]…a terrifying deterioration of indigenous families, because they go from having access to land to having nothing, and women become employed in houses as domestic servants or become victims of prostitution…[Now] Boys decide, ‘work or gangs,’ and girls have become pregnant at an early age. Anyone leaving the place that is a sanctuary, is a dead person. There, people live as how it is possible, making matrimony with the same gang members. They threaten old women. In the rural area or its surroundings…they have taken over all that, there is displacement of people and schools have been destroyed because the gangs have seized all that…Indigenous communities have been evicted and those lands have been seized by gangs. The youth are the heads, the hierarchs, those that dominate; and children (14-15 years old) are sent to monitor, to watch both parts. By the gangs’ law these young teenagers must join the gang, or they are killed. Afterwards, they start growing as leaders and learn to kill as a trial.” (Key Institutional informant) Similarly, an assessment by UNHCHR 201116 states that testimony from the Network for Early Childhood and Adolescence indicated that the indigenous population lived in poverty and extreme poverty. Also that there has always been a tendency for “invisible racism” in dealing with them, through total exclusion from national statistics regarding their needs and the current state of their rights.17 The same assessment indicates that for indigenous peoples the main factors that determine their current poverty conditions are the killings of 1932; indigenous migrations to other countries in the region; the war of the 1980s; and the exploitation, expropriation, and dispossession of their territories which directly impacts on the loss of their cultural identity.18 There is also an international indigenous current that says Bible studies and translations to their languages took away cultural heritage from indigenous populations in Latin America. Regarding the rights of indigenous women,19 the possibilities in their communities for them to study are scarce due to the persistence of machista discriminatory patterns of behavior and the prevailing stereotype that preset women to only engage in domestic tasks such as caring for the family and initiating sexual life at an early age.
16 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 150. 17 Footnoted with: 31 Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos. Resumen preparado por la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos con arreglo al párrafo 15 c) del anexo de la resolución 5/1 del Consejo de Derechos Humanos. El Salvador. Examen Periódico Universal. Ginebra, del 8 al 19 de febrero de 2010, p. 9. 18 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 154. 19 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 162. 56
Women also suffer from intrafamily violence, often linked to the consumption of alcohol and drugs by males. Their subordination to men puts them in a vulnerable position. Young women employed in maquilas and in domestic service in cities face discrimination due to their way of dressing and traditions. Sometimes their Photo IV.2: Domestic workers claim their rights through a street march identity documents heading to the Legislative Assembly (2017). Photo credit: Vanessa Pocasangre, USAID’s ME&L Initiative. are retained as a form of pressure, thereby restricting their mobility. Many of them suffer from sexual abuse. It also reported that there is a higher rate of female school dropouts in indigenous communities compared to males. Data from the MINEDUCYT for 2015-2017 on indigenous children school enrollment show that, consistently, there are more boys than girls enrolled, with gender gaps of 4.0 percent in 2015, 5.6 percent in 2016, and 2.7 percent in 2017. Given population trends of higher percentage of girls than boys, this would support the statement that there is limited encouragement of parents to daughters for completing school and that there is a tendency of making education for boys a family priority. Regarding the right to equality and nondiscrimination, the UNHCHR 2011 Assessment found that indigenous children face discrimination in the schools due to their ethnicity. In the area of employment, men have access mainly to menial jobs as day workers and earn 25 percent less than their non-indigenous counterparts, while women become poorly paid domestic workers, maquila workers, or small vendors in markets. They also suffer triple discrimination based on ethnicity, economy, and gender. Instances of institutional discrimination included the poor quality of service provided to indigenous people in the health, justice, and education sectors. This directly affects their quality of life. The assessment pointed out that there was a clear difference in the access and coverage of basic services provided to poor households where most indigenous families lived. It noted the inequality that exists between different geographic zones with respect to the quality and extent of service coverage in the social, legal, and economic sectors. Another form of discrimination by the State is the way indigenous peoples are kept invisible by not gathering data that includes ethnicity. On the other hand, indigenous folklore is used for selling culture and promoting tourism. Moreover, indigenous ceremonial and religious sites are declared a cultural patrimony.
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Ironically this does not result in the strengthening of indigenous culture or identity; it becomes discriminatory against them since it limits their access to these places to perform traditional sacred rites and ceremonies. Claims filed with the PDDH show that threats were made, and jail terms handed down, for celebrating traditional Spring Equinox ceremonies in San Andrés at the Tecpan cultural site in March 2008. Another reported form of subtle discrimination is the lack of protection for indigenous families suffering from food insecurity since they lack land for production and are not recipients of agricultural project benefits.20 2.3.5 Access to Justice UNHCHR’s 2011 Assessment stated that when indigenous persons have filed complaints with the PDDH that they are ignored and not assisted by the State justice institutions (police, judges, prosecutors, defenders, legal departments, etc.). This forces them to seek the mediation of human rights institutions such as the PDDH, Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, OAS, and UN System. With regards to the right to equality and nondiscrimination, UNHCHR’s 2011 Assessment concluded that the historical construction of a homogenous nation has prevented the possibility to live with an indigenous or a racial identity. It also concludes that public policies, public service coverage, and care that is culturally sensitive should be the basis for a new relationship between the State and the original peoples to promote a favorable environment that allows the pursuit for equality in conditions of respect for their differences.21 2.3.6 Access to Economic Support UNHCHR’s 2011 Assessment concluded that the historical dispossession of ancestral communal territories and the inability to recuperate them coupled with an increasing population that needs more land for food production, places indigenous people in El Salvador among the most vulnerable in terms of health, education, and access to justice and basic public services.22 Additionally, many mega projects for hydroelectric dams are located in territories where indigenous communities live and which they have protected since ancestral times. These areas have now been given out as concessions to foreign investors. Compounding the loss of lands and livelihood is the lack of direct or indirect benefits to the affected communities. PLANPIES confirms the lack of access as it establishes agricultural production, food security, and care for natural resources as priorities for indigenous economic development. Also included are the need for enacting legal protections for indigenous landownership, strengthening the indigenous economy, and strengthening indigenous productive capacities.
20 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 172. 21 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 177. 22 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 174.
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2.4 Domain 4: Participation in Decision-Making UNHCHR’s 2011 Assessment noted that indigenous peoples do not participate in political life due to exclusion and poverty among other factors. This includes distance from centers of national and municipal political activity and the cost of ensuring access to the electoral process, coupled with a lack of knowledge of the political environment.23 The traditional customs of the three main indigenous peoples in the country use consultation and consensus which are among the rights recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). In El Salvador, the need to respect the right to Consultation on issues that affect indigenous people is a frequently cited concern by indigenous leaders, organizations, and institutions that advocate on their behalf. In a 2013 trip report, UNHCHR’s Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Rights acknowledged that although the multisectoral table in El Salvador was a useful forum, the State should develop a more formal and permanent consultation mechanism in its legal framework. It also stated that there was limited opportunity for indigenous peoples to participate effectively in decisions that concern them because, initially, they need to be organized at a local level and to be familiar with negotiation modalities. It urged the government to adopt laws and procedures to promote such local-level processes. With regards to poverty reduction, the report stated that programs aimed at economic development should be implemented with the participation of the people in accordance with UNDRIP which upholds the right of indigenous peoples to formulate socioeconomic development priorities and strategies (Art. 23), in a manner that also strengthens and rescues their identity. 2.5 Organizations The study identified two types of organizational streams. One is community-based and has been promoted through the efforts of the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs. The other consists of NGOs and local development organizations that are aligned with CCNIS, an organization that represents indigenous interests in international fora and with international cooperation institutions in the country. There is a level of distrust between members of each stream, as the predominantly community-based stream centered in the department of Sonsonate, feels their priorities are not adequately reflected by the NGOs that represent them in the international fora or with the international cooperation agencies. Table IV.3 shows the organizations that are listed in the Indigenous Peoples Public Policy issued by the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs. The second grouping lists those involved in PLANPIES and includes participants in the consultative technical team, who are members of organizations that function under the umbrella of CCNIS.
23 UNHCHR, 2011, p. 172. 59
Table IV.3: Indigenous Organizations Identified in the Gender and Inclusion Assessment Organizations in the Organizations With PLANPIES Consultative Directorate of CCNIS Team Members Indigenous Affairs Roster Nahuat Asociación Nacional Indígena Consejo Coordinador Consejo Coordinador de El Salvador, ANIS Nacional Indígena Nacional Indígena (Sonsonate); Salvadoreño (CCNIS) Salvadoreño (CCNIS) Asociación Coordinadora de Asociación de Desarrollo La Asociación Democrática Comunidades Indígenas de El Comunal de Mujeres de Trabajadores Indígenas Salvador, ACCIES Indígenas de Izalco Salvadoreños (ADTAIS), (Sonsonate); (ADESCOMIZ) La Asociación Coordinadora Cofradía María Asunción Asociación para la de Comunidades Indígenas de (Izalco, Sonsonate); Recuperación de la Cultura El Salvador (ACCIES), Fundación Feliciano Ama, Autóctona de El Salvador La Asociación de Desarrollo FAMA (Izalco, Sonsonate); (ARCAS) Indígena de El Salvador Cofradía del Justo Juez Asociación Comunal Flor (ASDEIS), (Izalco, Sonsonate); Amarilla (ASCOLFA). La Asociación para la Asociación Nahua-pipil de Asociación Cultural Ecológica Recuperación de la Cultura Cuxcatan ANAPICKU Indígena Salvadoreña (ACEIS) Autóctona Salvadoreña (Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán); Asociación de Desarrollo (ARCAS), Asociación de Desarrollo Comunal Indígena Nahuat Fundación José Feliciano Ama Comunal El Tesoro (ADESCOIN) (FAMA); Consejo Indígena de (Suchitoto, Cuscatlán); Centro América (CICA) Movimiento Indígena de Cuxcatan MOICUX (Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán); Asociación Nacional Indígena Tierra Sagrada, ANITISA (Texistepeque, Santa Ana); Fundación Pasos del Jaguar (Santa Ana, Santa Ana); Colectivo Taketztalis (Santa Ana, Santa Ana); Consejo de los Pueblos Originarios Nahuat Pipil de Nahuizalco, COPONAPN, (Nahuizalco, Sonsonate); Los pueblos Nonualcos (zona costera paracentral); Cofradía de San Antonio Abad (San Salvador, San Salvador); Grupo CÓDICES (San Salvador, San Salvador) KAKAWIRA Asociación Winaka Comunidad Indígena Kakawira (Cacaopera, Morazán) (WINAKA) LENCA Asociación Comunal Lenca Movimiento Unido de Pueblos Asociación Comunal Lenca de de Chilanga (Chilanga, Originarios de Cuxcatan y Guatajiagua (ACOLGUA); Morazán) Chapanastique (MUPOCH); Asociación Comunal Lenca de Cerro del Sol (TEPEC – Chilanga (ACOLCHI) TUNAL); Fundación Tribu Raíces de Cuzcatlan (FUNTRAC); Asociación de Desarrollo Cantón La Unión (ADECU); 60
Organizations in the Organizations With PLANPIES Consultative Directorate of CCNIS Team Members Indigenous Affairs Roster Comunidad Indígena Cantón Zacales(CICZA) 3.0 CONCLUSIONS Indigenous populations are part of the target group of security programs that aim to reduce migration. By their own statement, they have been forced to migrate in groups of families due to evictions by gangs coming to their communities. The statistical invisibility of indigenous peoples makes them a difficult group to target and analyze. Discrimination has historical roots and is deeply ingrained in social practices related to social and economic discrimination that hides ethnic discrimination. Young indigenous persons are migrating to cities and out of the country seeking better futures, and are often ignorant of or denying their own heritage. Acknowledgment of their heritage and identity is important to be able to reach them as a target group and strengthening it will help them become self-reliant. There is a new project with a school for young indigenous persons that will teach them vocational skills as well as soft skills based on their indigenous identity. This is a worthy alliance to make for USAID activities, to reach youth that want to find employment and improve their skills. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS • To make alliances with indigenous organizations, both at the grassroots level and in CCNIS, to strengthen their capacity to advocate for their own rights and self-reliance, to be a channel to reach indigenous segments of target populations of USAID activities, and to learn from them how to effectively include indigenous persons in activities. • To work with indigenous youth and women as priority groups for inclusion in USAID activities in territories where they are present. • To support elements of PLANPIES that coincide with USAID activities’ objectives. • To seek out indigenous populations in priority municipalities where USAID activities are operating. 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. ACNUR, (2013). Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas James Anaya. "La situación de los pueblos indígenas en El Salvador." Consejo de Derechos Humanos. 24o. Periodo de sesiones. Naciones Unidas A /HRC/24/41/Add.2. June 25, 2013. Retreived from: https://www.acnur.org/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2015/10175.pdf 2. ACNUR (2013). Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas James Anaya. "Las Industrias Extractivas y los pueblos indígenas." Consejo de Derechos Humanos. 24o. Periodo de sesiones. United Nations A /HRC/24/41*. July 1, 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.acnur.org/fileadmin/Documentos/BDL/2015/10177.pdf
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3. Asociación Tutela Legal “Dra. María Julia Hernández” and Dpto. de Pueblos Indígenas de SECULTURA (2015). Ordenanza Municipal sobre Derechos de la Comunidad Indígena de Panchimalco. Panchimalco, San Salvador. 4. CLADEM El Salvador (2014). Convención Internacional sobre la Eliminación de todas las Formas de discriminación racial. Informe Alternativo desde las Mujeres Indígenas. Produced by CLADEM El Salvador. To be presented to the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its 85th session, Geneva, August 2014. Retreived from: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/SLV/INT_CERD_NG O_SLV_17650_S.pdf 5. Cortez, Carlos E. (2014). Ne Nawat Yultuk. San Salvador: El Salvador. First edition. 6. Departamento de Pueblo Pueblos Indígenas de SECULTURA (2016). Fortaleciendo la identidad de nuestros pueblos: Compilación de investigaciones orales y bibliográficas de jóvenes indígenas de El Salvador. San Salvador: El Salvador. First edition. 7. Equipo Multisectorial de Pueblos Indígenas (2015). Política Pública para los Pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador. El Salvador: Secretaría de Cultura de la Presidencia de El Salvador. 8. Equipo Multisectorial de Pueblos Indígenas (2017). Política Pública para los Pueblos Indígenas de El Salvador. San Salvador: El Salvador. First edition. Retreived from: https://www.transparencia.gob.sv/institutions/9/.../download 9. Erquicia Cruz, J.H., Herrera R., M.M., Effenberger L., W. (2013). “San Alejo, La Unión: Imaginarios, memoria colectiva y discursos de la herencia afrodescendiente.” Revista Entorno. No. 53:104-113, ISSN:2218-3345. Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador. El Salvador. 10. Erquicia Cruz, J.H., Herrera R., M.M. (2012). “El Culto asan Benito de Palermo, elementos de la herencia africana en El Salvador.” Revista Entorno. No. 51: 62-70, ISSN: 2218-3345. Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador. El Salvador. 11. Martínez, J. (2016). Aproximaciones a un mapa de afrodescendientes en El Salvador. 9 de septiembr 2016. Downloaded from: https://medium.com/@midnightexpress/aproximaciones-a-un-mapa-de- afrodescendientes-en-el-salvador-8fc29d671f5b 12. Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO) (2018). Plan de Acción Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas. PLANPIES. El Salvador. September 2018 edition. Retrieved from: https://www.transparencia.gob.sv/institutions/ministerio.../download 13. Oficina Regional para América Central del Alto Comisionado de Naciones Unidas para Derechos Humanos (2011). Diagnóstico sobre la situación de los derechos humanos de los pueblos indígenas de América Central. Tomo I y Tomo II. ACNUR América Central oficina Regional. Noruega Embassy.
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V. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT: INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND RETURNED MIGRATION DUE TO VIOLENCE 1.0 INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND VIOLENCE The magnitude of the forced internal displacement occurring in El Salvador cannot be documented. The lack of documented information limits understanding of the scope of this phenomenon. This lack of data is evidence of the absence of protection for vulnerable groups, who, motivated by fear and in search of security and protection for their families, engage in forced internal displacement due to violence and insecurity. There is a fragile basis upon which to face this problem since it has not been officially acknowledged or addressed by the government. Thus, there are no adequate laws and policies in place to protect and assist the internally displaced. As indicated by organizations and the PDDH, “…the first thing to do is to recognize that there is forced displacement due to violence and therefore there are victims in conditions of displacement due to this violence; as long as the state does not recognize this as such, there cannot be policies, because there is no (problem).” (Cristosal, April 2019) “In 2015…we saw that most of them [victims] were family groups made up of women; until then [the victims had been individuals]…we did not provide differentiated attention to the groups, because we did it by activating an NGO…but they cannot fulfill the function of the State, which the state must assume, but the recognition of the phenomenon [to do it] is lacking.” (PDDH, 2019) 1.1 Determining factors of internal displacement Some communities are centers—or at risk of becoming centers—of people displaced by violence and/or criminal and gang-related harassment. Although each displaced family has its own circumstances, findings show that there are determining factors that influence becoming a victim of internal forced displacement. These factors include: • Isolated rural cantons: The lack of access to basic resources and services, such as health or education, makes it easier for gangs to move in and recruit youth to join them. This is aided by the negligence of public servants who are willing to overlook that fact that territories are being taken over by gangs. Police harassment in the affected rural areas stigmatizes the sequestered residents as part of the violence rather than its victims. These attitudes and behaviors increase the insecurity in which these families live and encourages them to take the first steps to internal displacement. In these areas, adults must walk great distances to get to their jobs, and children and adolescents to get to schools. Traveling these distances in search of an academic education and aspiring to a better life through attaining a job and performing also exposes them to danger every time they trespass from one territory to another, making them vulnerable to being intercepted by these criminal
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groups. “Because of the violence we are living, we can no longer go freely anywhere in our country...I take public transport, which nowadays is not safe, more because I am young, which at this time is like a crime because I cannot go to some areas because they belong to others. In several occasions they have even killed many young people who are students.” (Municipal FGD) • Marginal urban areas: The violence perpetrated by gangs has also shifted from isolated rural areas that served as sanctuaries to more urban areas, leaving people fleeing gang violence with fewer safe options within the country. Families escape from rural areas to seek shelter in more urbanized ones, but, with the little money they have, they only manage to access marginal urban neighborhoods that are also besieged by crime and violence. These zones are usually communities located in the urban contours and within the urban areas, where low-income families with low levels of development reside and where there is limited presence of the State. Internal displacement is often unsuccessful and undertaken under precarious conditions, which triggers repeated household movements and causes severe constraints to freedom of movement, even within urban areas. “In the area where I currently live in, there are gangs and they do not allow people to leave…when I do leave, I must return before nighttime because it is insecure.” (Municipal FGD) • Gang-influenced, gang-controlled communities and extortion: Communities with the presence of criminal groups not yet strictly regulating activities are considered gang-influenced communities. In them, community members still carry out formal and informal commercial activities in exchange for an established fee, an extortion. Extortion is conceived as a form of strict control. Gang members approach these communities for a few days and leave. However, people live in fear, thinking that, one day, the gangs may stay or start serious violent acts within the locality. Residents try to keep low profiles so that their families are not targeted by the criminal group and forced to flee. Those who reside in communities under the control of gangs have learned to move with caution within their localities, learning and following the rules imposed by the gangs with the purpose of saving their lives and possessions that remain. “The village is divided by areas. Nobody can come in from another village...people are always asked where they are from and if they have gang relatives and must wait or be picked up by someone of the community. There is fear for life.” (Municipal FGD) Other forms of control are forced recruitment of adolescents and the sexual requests of a gang leader to girls when they start puberty. Some decide to stay and risk everything they have left since the other option is death. “There are people who do not leave, they stay, but their children are threatened, and girls are taken away upon the threat of killing the family.” (Indigenous CSO) Gang control also affects the work local governments, NGOs, and development institutions can perform through cooperative interventions since they are unable to enter the territories without the accompaniment of a gang leader or head of the zone, or, if they do, they must pay a fee as right of entrance. This implies an extra cost for those carrying out community-related work and for the municipalities; as a result, they often abandon these places leaving them deprived from vital services.
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“Gang control affects us in the sense that we always have to walk being watchful and cautious in areas where we must transit. It prevents visitors to come to the community or restricts their entrance to the neighborhoods if not accompanied by a gang member. It is a very risky and disappointing situation. The rival gang prevents mobility…gangs charge a fee to allow people to enter or walk in their controlled territory, representing an additional cost.” (Municipal FGD) Depending on the circumstances triggering the displacement, the risk of being followed by these groups may continue after the first move. Therefore, for many, the best option is always to escape with “all the family group” when having the slightest opportunity, and moving away as far as possible, even if it means investing all of their economic resources. • Retribution death threats and homicides: Community members are afraid that their children will be next on the gang radar and they send them away preventively due to the increase of the risk in their locality. Greater family displacement can be caused by the murder of a family member, the removal of community leader by the gang, or witnessing a security operation carried out by the state that provokes a more threatening situation. As clearly expressed by a young man whose family had to move from their municipality of origin to another part of the country, “My family migrated from…X…to…Y due to the murder of an uncle and the threat of death to us.” People can also leave because they have received a threat that causes their family to be at great risk. In areas controlled by gangs, these groups often strip residents of homes and plots of land, threatening the family with death. So, the best option is always to flee. “This is a reason to move from their homes of residence, because the territories are controlled by gangs, gangs request their homes to stay in them or threaten residents because they have witnessed something criminal gangs have done…” (PDDH, 2019) • Fleeing from targeted violence: The types of violence that gangs use to control community residents depend on the victims’ sex, age, gender identity, or role in a situation. These types are described in the following sections. 1.2 Targeted Violence, an Important Driver of Internal Displacement • Violence against girls, young women, and adult women: Violence for women who flee from communities besieged by criminal groups varies according the women’s ages. Girls and adolescent women are particularly affected by sexual violence when they reach puberty and are sought to be the “woman” of the leader or of several members of the gang. They are asked to make conjugal visits to gang members in prison and, when they are pregnant, they are sent home. Those that are kept are taken to live in houses or lands that gangs have stolen from the communities. Adult women are asked to take care of children of gang members whose mothers have disappeared. “In the issue of organized- crime social violence, there is also a high exposure to differentiated violence in relation to women. Women that have been recruited for the gang are subjected to various humiliations and are practically sexual slaves or used and exploited to care for the children of other gang members who have been captured.” (PDDH, 2019). Sometimes, girls are used as “instruments” of gang work in addition to being victims of sexual violence. “Girls, after reaching puberty, begin to be sought by criminal networks as sex slaves, maids, nannies, as couples (involuntary) or for roles of introducing objects in the prisons,
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collecting extortions or being lookouts and are under strict control of gangs.” (Checchi, 2019) “Gangs use them as a courier to introduce objects not allowed in the penitentiaries…women comply because they are forced by death threats…it is the parents who take their daughters for intimate visits due to death threats and, at the risk of dying, they prefer rape and sexual assault.” (PNC, 2019) Some adolescent women who have had babies are prevented from continuing their formal education through MINEDUCYT’s flexible education programs because of the danger in their municipalities. In the words of a municipal focus group participant, “She left school pregnant at age 14. He [the father] managed to study by the flexible modalities at night. At age 19 she wanted to resume her studies, but by then night classes were closed because of insecurity and the territoriality of the gangs.” Adult women who are heads of household struggle to meet family needs when they live in dangerous localities. When their children are directly threatened, they have no choice but to leave their community with their families and begin the exodus of internal displacement. The threat to their lives could be caused by the fact that they can no longer pay the extortion fees, or their sons are recruited, or their daughters are called by the gang leaders. “What happens to adolescent children, threats are for the boys and for the girls the sexual harassment, because there is no man at home; the man was killed in some way or is in jail. In addition, the women take responsibility for the extended family in displacement, not only her sons and daughters, but also older adults who are part of the family; the cost of caring for the family increases for the women in displacement, because she continues to assume, and now under worse conditions, her gender role as caretaker of the family.” (Cristosal, 2019) Older women are not excluded from the control of these criminal groups. They are instruments used for “posting,” to monitor and take information from one area to another, in addition to their task of selling in the local markets the fruits of the lands that have been removed from members of the community and are in the hands of the gangs. The criminal groups consider that when elders become slaves of the gang, the whole family group comes with them: “They are forced to handover the lands...There are the famous “Nanas” that go to sell the fruit (of the lands taken) to the market, that’s why they keep that sector of the population to work for them...even old women and children are gang members, all families…They become gang members to be able to stay in that place. The old women are the messengers.” (Indigenous Civil Society) • Violence against boys, young men, and adult men: In response to the violence perpetrated by the gangs, the security forces of the state have increased the repressive measures against young boys and men. To flee from this institutional harassment and violence is another driver of internal displacement. Security measures have led to State forces criminalizing young people, stigmatizing those who belong to affected areas. Youth profiled as gangs, whether innocent or guilty, experience state arbitrariness and violence exercised by security institutions.
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“We have received complaints from a whole community, as being victims of violence by state agents; it is known that, when there is a murder of a policeman, a cycle of violence in the communities begins; the police break into houses, damaging them, often even illegally leveling the houses and at the same time capturing generally men who they suspect of being gang members.” (PDDH, 2019) Youth recruitment is also a factor that generates immediate flight. Children and adolescents are recruited as lookouts to later become guardians and leaders in certain areas, achieving promotion through criminal acts that grant them status within the gang. “The boys, the ringleaders are the hierarchs (of the gang), those who dominate, and the cipotes (children) are sent to watch, at 14 or 15 years old, are watching from both sides. By law you must enter the gang, or you are killed. Then, as they progress in the leadership, they learn to kill to pass the test.” (Indigenous CSO) “The involvement in the gang begins with small collaborations...as an errand boy, or a look out that warns, then they measure his manhood, if he is a man he must shoot, the crueler, the more power he has.” (PNC, 2019) Among the consequences suffered by children and adolescents when facing forced displacement is their abandonment of school. Often the cause is gang harassment because they are in territories controlled by gangs. In these cases, they are in danger if they move to different enemy gang zones or if they are found by members of the gang they fled from. The children of gang members are initiated into the gang from very young. This limits their access to education. They instill devotion to gang values and loyalty to the group. They learn to value their gang identity as a symbol of power, and to use it to manipulate and violate the rights of others. Above all, to women, as expressed by Checchi (2019). “The children are indoctrinated from four years of age, within the patriarchal patterns of society, the gangster sees in the child his future relay; and teaching a culture of loving the gang, the child recognizes the power that they have when they say that they belong to a gang. In the case of a woman who was taking care of a child with a missing mother, she raised him, but she had to let him go out with the gang. The child was inducted from a young age about the language and the whole culture of the gang; she could not forbid the child anything, even if the child threatened her and saw her as the servant; and even his schoolteachers documented it. But this is in the case of a boy. The girl is useful only when she enters puberty. The value of the boy is to replicate the violence.” • Violence against LGBTI persons: The LGBTI community is deeply affected by stigma and violence, together with discrimination and exclusion that limit their access to health, education, and employment. They experience great violence exerted by criminal groups, as well as violence from state institutions and security forces. Transgender women are the ones who suffer the most abuse and extreme and cruel violence, starting from the family, social, institutions and criminals. Because of harassment and bullying, they usually leave school and work in the informal sector or sex work. “Trans women usually have a very low level of education due to exclusion in schools, abandonment and rejection of the family. This makes them go to the street very young.” (SIS Executive Direction, 2019) This situation makes them more vulnerable to gangs, who use them to carry out criminal acts. “Many of these trans women are in very vulnerable conditions because they work sexually and are in risk areas [controlled by gangs] and sometimes they are even used in criminal activities.” (Cristosal, 2019)
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The situation experienced by the members of this population is made more difficult due to cultural norms and the struggle they experience to adapt to social norms that they do not fit into. All these circumstances are exacerbated by the threats and harassment from criminal groups. This results in negative impact in their self-esteem and concept of self, leaving them even more vulnerable and exposed to these groups. “They think that, because I am gay, I want to be a woman. They think that, because I am a trans woman, I am gay. I ran away from my house because gangs have threatened me because I am the worst for society. I’m not comfortable with my social concept because I do not fit in.” (LGBTI CSO) This group is prone to migrate because of criminal harassment, institutional arbitrariness, and the lack of a state guarantor that offers security and protection. “People who are thrown out of their homes opt for drugs, in addition to being threatened by gangs. Hiding is impossible, people want to stay, but they know that the state does not offer the necessary conditions.” (LGBTI CSO, 2019) • Violence against persons with disabilities: People with disabilities also suffer the consequences of living in areas under gang control. This group faces the discrimination that begins at home, a scarce or null access to education and health. Cases reported of youth who are deaf or who are have an intellectual disability, describe harassment of the security forces when they are approached by agents in routine checks and their sign language or answers are misunderstood and considered gang language, then they are beaten, arrested, or killed by security agents. “We know cases where the issue is not only gang members, but also State forces; for example, the case of a person with mental disabilities who was playing with other children, in a populous neighborhood with the presence of gangs, and [during a check by armed forces] he peeked out to see what was happening, and a soldier shot him thinking he was a gang member, without any investigation or anything.” (PDDH, 2019) • Violence against indigenous persons: Indigenous communities generally reside in rural areas that are far from an urban area and are difficult to access. Due to their isolation, they have become propitious territory for gang control and act as gang sanctuaries from where the gangs exert control and power, preventing any access to State security forces and erasing indigenous peoples from the map of the institutions and municipalities. Within these communities, families are stripped of land that they cultivate for community income generation and to perform traditional rituals of which they are guardians. The dispossession and threats begin with the leaders of the community who oversee communal possessions. This, in some communities, has led to mass movement of family groups including older adults. “Indigenous peoples live in areas profiled as gang-controlled areas, such as Panchimalco, Izalco; this affects them because they live in rural areas, that according to the PNC map, are risk areas where gangs still exist [and are not entered by security forces]…” (PDDH, 2019). “…The communities are victims of them (gangs). Nahuizalco, the place where the most indigenous people are, is the most violent and they [indigenous peoples] are being displaced, Cojutepeque as well. There is a lot of land dispossession in Izalco, forced
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displacement also in Nahuizalco and threats to the leaders. They strip the leaders of their land and although they have approached the PNC, it is very difficult. Three years ago, there was a massive migration of people from the area of Izalco, the PNC came to oversee their departure because they could not continue living there. The indigenous part [of the community] is not identified with the gangs, but they let them live there if they say nothing. And they throw them out because the gangs occupy their land, the ones that implement are the gangs, even though they obey orders from organized crime.” (Indigenous CSO) 1.3 Economic Need Internal displacement has important economic effects on the displaced families; these worsen if families are unable to find security and stability in the new home. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) go through economic adversities because of the suddenness of the departure and how little they can take when leaving their place of origin. They leave behind their property and their belongings, and often the uprooting means loss of their employment or means of livelihood. They also face challenges in access to education, health, protection, and security. The well-being of displaced people is often aggravated by the precarious living in the home after displacement, leading to a situation of desperation. They are often forced to work in the informal sector, and face instability and lack of resources to meet their basic needs. They have invested all their economic resources in the displacement, and often in the new home they do not have any support or network to start working or start a business. “The economy affects a lot since most of them do not have the resources to move from one place to another, some cannot even attend an interview due to the economic factor and transportation.” (Municipal FGD, 2019) 2.0 FROM INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT TO MIGRATION Shared data on migration in El Salvador is not collected at its border to determine the exit or entry of people. The problem worsens when the migration is irregular. “There is no way to measure who enters or who leaves because the fact that someone takes a passport does not mean that he is going to travel.” (CONMIGRANTES, 2019). Among the reasons why Salvadorans migrate, the two main ones are economic need (to improve the quality of life) and insecurity in the country. This second reason is closely linked to internal displacement forced by violence, whether the violence is exerted by gangs or by the State through its security forces. “…Because it is not the same a single extortion and deciding to leave immediately, which sometimes implies only changing the zone without much problem; but there are others in which deeds of greater violence are involved; deeds of persecution, and even in some cases the authorities have also been involved as violators…that makes relocation somewhat more difficult; these cases show a situation where the solution is to leave. Sometimes, we have a criterion, when a case is exposed publicly in the media, it becomes a greater risk, so they cannot stay here.” (Cristosal, April 2019) Irregular migration is driven by multiple causes, such as lack of job opportunities, insecurity, violence by gangs and state security agents, lack of access to services, and especially lack of confidence in the justice institutions, and the violation of law. Often these causes do not exist in isolation, increasing the chances that people seek to migrate abroad on more than one occasion.
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“… What do you offer so that they do not leave? What do you offer them to stay in the country? If the person goes away because of violence, and does not even trust the institution responsible for following the crime…people sometimes do not want to denounce, they want to leave the country not by their will, it is something forced; there is no policy to retain people, there is a migration policy that I think should be revised because it talks about some guidelines for the protection, both for people who are abroad and for people deported, but there are no policies to keep Salvadorans in the country.” (PDDH, 2019) The dynamics of migration due to violence particularly affects vulnerable groups. This entails situations that expose them to the violation of their rights and is a cycle that begins from the moment they must leave of their homes. 2.1 Women For women the reasons for migration during the last few years have changed, from economic to security reasons. Migration is a solution to resolve situations that expose their personal integrity and life (Ramos, 2017). The situation of women facing this scenario becomes complex; many women who are forced to migrate must do so with their family group, especially when the reason for migration is linked to violence (threats, extortion, physical attacks by or on some family member, or murder). In addition, the woman’s family dynamics can be a factor, in situations when she is exposed or there is a victim of violence within the family: “Presently there are more women who dare to migrate in an irregular way. Many women flee because of the levels of violence caused by their partners or in the community. The environments are violent and in terms of continuing in that situation or putting distance from it, the people prefer to get away and leave. It is an opportunity that women are immersed in, so they also decide to take their children away from gangs, after a death or a disappearance. This has been the case of migrants who are already there.” (PNC, 2019) 2.2 LGBTI LGBTI people face a generalized panorama of violation of their rights,24 it is a reality they face daily in Salvadoran society and they are more vulnerable to forced migration by the actions of gangs in places where they have a strong influence or maintain control. Crimes against the LGBTI population are strongly linked to the gender identity of the victim. They also have more difficulty accessing the justice system, due to the discrimination suffered from public officials that sometimes escalate to acts of violence by state security forces (Gómez, 2017). This picture is more evident in transgender women, as it is this segment of the population that is most exposed to hate crimes. “The LGBTI population emigrates due to violence and harassment, and this has been recorded more in caravans.” (COMIGRANTES)
24 According to the Situation Report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee on the Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People (LGBTI) in El Salvador (January 2018), where they describe the situation of the LGBTI population in relation to violence, torture, and killings against LGBTI persons, in particular towards transgender people, states that: “In El Salvador, violations of human rights based on sexual orientation, identity or gender expression constitute a generalized and ingrained pattern that subjects LGBTI persons to murder, torture, mistreatment, assault, rape, hate crimes, internal displacement, forced migration, persecution, extortion, threats, among others; Violations of the right to life have become the most serious affectations and fears faced by LGBTI people. It is noteworthy that, in many cases, this type of violence is made by public security forces who, through abuse of power, carry out illegal and arbitrary detentions, accompanied by torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.” 70
2.3 Youth The migration of Salvadoran children and youth has a strong link to the violence that is exerted in Salvadoran society, not only in aspects related to violence that comes from gangs, but in complex situations, such as violence within their families. This violence within the family is also related to the migration of the parents, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), “On the subject of violence, we ignore that migration generates violence...the indices of school attrition are strong indicators of homes where the parents have migrated. For example, the survey that was conducted on violence against children, showed that where one of the parents had migrated had the possibility of almost twice the incidence of violence compared to a home that was made up of both parents.” Violence within the family, in many cases, is caused by the lack of one or both parents who have migrated, a situation that leaves the care of children to relatives and acquaintances, in many cases also a risk factor presenting some type of physical, psychological, or sexual abuse. This last factor occurs more frequently in girls. According to the data of the survey of Violence Against Children and Adolescents Survey of 2017 (VACS), 14 percent of girls before the age of 18 have suffered sexual violence, while for boys it was 3 percent; 22 percent of girls have suffered physical violence, while it is 19 percent in boys; and 12 percent of girls have suffered emotional violence, while it is 4 percent in boys. In relation to the girls and boys who experienced violence while they were separated from their parents, 38 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 24 have suffered violence, while the women where the parents did not migrate were 30 percent; 28 percent of men between the ages of 18 and 24 have suffered violence, while men where the parents did not migrate were 20 percent. (MJSP & DIGESTYC, 2019) 2.4 People with Disabilities The situation of people with disabilities in relation to migration is invisible, since data are not available. One of the reasons, apart from the lack of registration of the fact of migration, is the additional fact of lack of registration of “disabilities” by public institutions. “The issue of how many people with disabilities have migrated, is something that has not been touched, there is no data on migrants with disabilities” (Network of Survivors and Persons with Disabilities, 2019) “We do not know if people with psychosocial disabilities are in the groups. There is no data about that. And it is because it is not identified, therefore, it is not registered.” (PDDH, 2019)
2.5 Indigenous Population The situation of the indigenous migrant population is similar to that of persons with disabilities; there are no official records of how many self-identified indigenous people have migrated. As part of civil society, it is evident that the problems that afflict the other priority groups are also suffered by them, especially the indigenous youth. Youth are mostly in rural areas and some are in urban areas, looking for better job opportunities or fleeing from the violence in municipalities under gang control. The reasons to migrate are related to violence and the search for opportunities to improve their quality of life. Another group within the indigenous population that is affected by violence, not only social but also familial, by reason of their gender, is women. This has to do with the culture in which they grow up, which is a more conservative culture in values and gender roles; this is in addition to being discriminated by society because their origin and social status. “Many young indigenous people migrate to other parts of the world because there are 71
no opportunities. Their great crime is to be young and to be threatened...And we are discriminated because we are women, indigenous and poor. Women are migrating by themselves.” (CCNIS, 2019) Gang violence is still the main reason why they choose to migrate, looking for places where they can protect their lives. “All of the north side of Cangrejera and the Chapina have abandoned everything because of threats of death. There is a sanctuary in Mexico. There are entire families in Mexico. Some have emigrated to Spain because they have obtained asylum.”(Indigenous CSO) Another feature is the lack of attention on the part of the state in resolving these problems: “Politics has been a point of division as well; the security issue is of great concern to all communities. The same as sexual violence against young people and boys and girls. But very little has been said about security in communities.” (CCNIS, 2019) 2.6 Returnees, Violence, and Repeated Emigration The flow of returnees in the last five years (2014-2018) has been estimated as 207,358 returnees, 52.24 percent from Mexico and 47.76 percent from the United States. The years of 2015 and 2016 were the years with the highest flow of returned migrants, accounting for 51,921 and 52,689, respectively, of which, for 2015, 62.91 percent came from Mexico and 37.09 percent from the United States; and in 2016, 60.02 percent came from Mexico and 39.98 percent from the United States. These years coincide with the entry of the PESS, the security plan of the second FMLN government. Returning to the country, for the returned migrant, leads to negative situations due to the economic, physical, and emotional costs already incurred. In addition, they are returning to the same conditions that initially forced them to leave, but with added difficulties to confront them, because returnees have less economic resources and are emotionally worn out, so their needs require special attention (Argueta, Ramírez, Canjura, Cisneros & Rivera, 2018). Returnees face situations such as discrimination, with a difference between men and women, since men are seen as threats and as a potential danger, while women face mostly ridicule from the community (Argueta et al., 2018). The reintegration of returned migrants is limited, since they are not taken into consideration, in the actions and projects in the municipalities of origin; few municipalities have included attention to migrants in their plans. On the other hand, there is also the personal situation of a returnee that had already managed to settle in a lifestyle and had joined the country of destination; for them, returning to the country is to have to start over, and that means adapting to a new environment, so psychological and social care are essential. “They are taken into consideration to participate in projects of the municipality: there are spaces for migrants promoted…for the benefit of the returned population of each locality, and in their incorporation into coordinating tables that most municipal governments have. We have cases in which the municipality has prioritized the returned Salvadoran population, such as Zacatecoluca, where a municipal assistance office for returnees is opened. We are currently working with the mayor of San Miguel and Mejicanos to replicate this effort…It is very important, the psychosocial attention, to help change their thoughts that only there (abroad) can they find development; in addition, there are people who have made a life there, and a new bond must be created with the country.” (Vice Ministry for Salvadorans Abroad) The findings of a study carried out with returnees in the municipalities of Sensuntepeque, Usulután, Chirilagua, and La Unión to identify the needs of returnees and their access to services (Argueta et al., 2018), show situations that affect the returnees in their reintegration into society
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that are related to the violence that prevails in the places where they have had to return. These factors include the control exercised by the gangs in the municipalities where they must resettle. Because they are exposed to being victims of the gangs, it affects their ability to access or maintain jobs, and establish micro-enterprises, as they are forced to pay extortion to gangs. To the above are added the returnees’ lack of knowledge of the public services they can access, other problems such as distance, scant presence of institutions in the territories, lack of economic resources for mobilization, insecurity, and distrust in institutions. All this adds up the reasons why people may migrate again. Insecurity, especially gang violence, becomes a major motive for migrating again, especially among those who have migrated due to threats to their physical integrity. There is a difference between women who may want to migrate again: this desire is stronger among those who had no children, compared to those with a family remaining in El Salvador. Family reunification is another reason, especially in young people who have support from their parents or relatives to bear the costs. Other reasons are the economic difficulties faced due to lack of employment or income, debts from previous trips, and the absence of institutional support. 3.0 FREEDOM FROM FORCED LABOR – TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS DOCUMENTARY FINDINGS Irregular migration is a phenomenon where people can see their rights violated and, apart from the reasons that have pushed them to leave the country of origin, the journey can lead to dangers, such as unhealthy places, lack of water and food, abandonment by “coyotes (people smugglers),” robberies, threats from criminal groups, and, for women, the danger of being sexually violated when leaving the country, during the journey, or when arriving at the destination (Argueta et al, 2018). As to how this phenomenon affects the migrants of El Salvador and how it is related to the current migratory cycle in the face of the panorama of social violence, in recent studies25 it was found that the greatest difficulty is that government institutions have had different methods of systematizing data, finding disparities between the data that have numerical consequences. However, it is evident that the incidence of cases where rights have been violated are mostly for women and girls in a situation of poverty and low schooling with the need to look for a source of income. This situation made them vulnerable to being victims of trafficking in persons. In addition, 9 percent of the victims were identified as victims of internal displacement; 5.88 percent were victims of intrafamily violence, and 11.76 percent were victims of domestic and sexual violence. On the other hand, 50 percent showed intentions to migrate before being victims of trafficking; it was determined that 76 percent managed to migrate, of these 26.47 percent said
25 The study “Migration, trafficking in persons and access to justice in the context of violence” carried out by the Independent Monitoring Group of El Salvador (GMIES), where a review of data obtained during period between 2004-2014 was made to establish the link that exists between migration and human trafficking; and forced displacement as a result of violence and insecurity; analyze criminal proceedings in cases of trafficking in persons; analyze the situation of victims of trafficking in the cases studied with emphasis on legal treatment and not re- victimizing. In addition, the study reviewed comprehensive care, prevention, restitution of rights and integration; and provided proposals for strengthening public policies on citizen security. The sample used was 34 cases of victims of trafficking. Available at https://www.infosegura.org/2017/11/16/migracion-trata-de-personas-acceso-a-justicia/ 73
they had migrated due to poverty, 2.94 percent due to family reunification, 26.47 percent for deception, and 2.94 percent for a job offer.
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VI. USAID STRENGTHS IN PROGRAMMING WITH GENDER EQUALITY AND INCLUSION In this chapter, the report presents the findings of the exploration of USAID’s strengths and areas of potential improvement in relation to fostering inclusive development under the conditions found in the Analysis. The exploration was done using an online survey with Chiefs of Party (COPs) and an FGD with the Gender and Inclusion Specialists currently working in USAID activities, in addition to the experience accumulated by the gender program of USAID/El Salvador Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Initiative. Two areas were explored. The first was the capacities of IPs to implement an inclusive development strategy looking at their administrative and their programming practices. The second was the lessons learned to date that could strengthen the Mission’s program implementation with an inclusive development approach. 1.0 FINDINGS IN GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES The sample available to explore administrative practices consisted of 12 USAID activities, eight of which responded to the online survey request, including four IPs with specialists in gender and/or inclusion. Among them were three activities in the closing stage, four in implementation, and five just beginning. Thus, their perspectives covered the full project cycle. IPs implement basic practices of inclusion such as indicators of participation of gender and marginalized groups, sex disaggregated data (and inclusion data for projects with that mandate), and reporting with a gender and inclusive focus. Evidence of a more deliberate approach to gender and inclusion includes conducting assessments and formulating strategies. Among the new initiatives, one emerged that conducted a gender analysis during the inception phase; there were gender and/or inclusion strategies among those in the second year of implementation or in the closing stage, although an assessment was not necessarily part of their work plan. Only two of them had training programs to build the capacities of their staff for an effective gender and inclusive implementation of actions. To consolidate gender mainstreaming, a USAID activity would have to institutionalize gender and inclusion practices throughout all their practices. This would consist of incorporating contract clauses that require consultants and technical service providers to ensure their performance will produce the information, analysis, and results with a gender and inclusion focus. In this regard, for the full program cycle to be complete, according to USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS) 205, the contracts of IPs would also have to include such a clause. Of the eight IPs who responded to the online survey, six had such contractual clauses. Most of these were the new USAID activities; and three included inclusion clauses in their subcontracts. When the AT looked at USAID El Salvador’s process of actually implementing its regulatory framework for gender equality and inclusion, the team noted a situation similar to that of its partner institutions in the GOES. The rules exist, although not the protocols to apply them in a
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day-to-day manner. In such a vacuum, personal interpretations of the rules prevail, and individual cultural filters determine the quality of inclusion or gender equality that will be enforced. Given that scenario, the areas that would need further strengthening in USAID activities include: (a) harmonizing their administrative procedures with ADS 205 to ensure that all Activity staff are required to produce the results expected by USAID policies; (b) establishing the means for accountability of gender and inclusion results for all those involved in implementation through evaluating the results they contribute to and/or achieve; (c) providing the means to perform well, including the knowledge, tools, and technical support to meet the contracted expectations; and (d) providing mandatory training to USAID activity personnel, from the COP to field personnel, including administrative personnel, to ensure a consistent quality of the results. There remains a vacuum in the tools to guide the day-to-day Activity tasks such as model terms of reference for different types of services related to gender and inclusion tasks; methods and instruments for different tasks such as gender and inclusion analysis assessments; formulation of inclusive development strategies with a gender focus; and training materials for project staff, among others. The other finding is that lessons learned in the implementation of gender and, particularly, inclusion activities have produced valuable new practices that could ensure a more effective implementation for future USAID activities. These lessons deal with preparedness by the IPs and with program design and implementation. Following is a summary of the main points. 1.1 Lessons Learned in Mainstreaming Gender Within Administrative Practices • Area of personnel capacity-building: A situation commonly found in USAID Activities is that “gender and inclusion is seen by projects as something additional that deviates human and financial resources from their main undertaking…” Also, internal guarantee of the rights of its own personnel is sometimes an issue when personnel are women or members of a vulnerable group, “…Projects tend to see that these policies are to be implemented externally, but within the projects there is no gender equality and inclusion policy to protect staff when labor harassment occurs, so individuals are afraid to denounce.” (FGD Gender and Inclusion Specialists) • Initial awareness-raising of all personnel in USAID activities: The collective opinion of the FGD with the Gender and Inclusion Specialists was that “it should be regulated and mandatory that when contracting personnel, they should undergo a process of awareness-raising in these themes.” Administrative personnel absorb these issues differently than technical personnel. “The consciousness of inclusion and equality is very important among all personnel implementing projects.” 1.2 Lessons Learned for Future Program Implementation The FGD with the Gender and Inclusion Specialists yielded the following kernels of wisdom: • Intersectionality in data: Data on participation should register variables that describe the intersectionality of participants and beneficiaries to improve targeting and define the best course of program action. This Analysis shows that individuals can be and often are identified with more than one variable of exclusion and may be subject to exclusion factors overlooked by programs.
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• Strengthening CSOs of vulnerable groups: Inclusion policies include working with and strengthening the organizations of vulnerable groups to work more effectively. This takes time with any organization and the special conditions of vulnerable groups add to the time. In the experience of USAID Rights and Dignity activity, “…processes that lead to appropriation by the target group take time; we chose a route that was a bit longer because we first identified the needs and then tried to institutionalize them…the process of organizational strengthening uses as mechanisms interorganizational coordination and capacity building in a priority group, the assessment process, the creation of a discussion table with the institution that is the target for the advocacy priority in their human rights agenda, the grants that they must apply for, and the technical assistance provided. Finding common ground among organizations of the same group is a challenge. Every group has different priority interests, so agendas created by consensus must be sought. Dialogues, common efforts, spaces for civil society to deal with them are necessary because fundamentally these groups are not seeking different things.” (Rights and Dignity) • The time and resources spent in strengthening organizations is an investment, as was clearly demonstrated by the case of the LGBTI Federation and its members whose capacity to build and administer a project and to form consensus and share leadership was evident during the FGDs. In addition, in their experience of working with an organization that implemented a subgrant from the USAID Government Integrity Project, USAID Rights and Dignity found “there is a value added in organizations that have been previously trained in inclusion and gender equality, other USAID activities can work with them to capitalize on these achievements.” Thus, the original investment will be a saving in future activities and builds self-reliance among CSOs. • Inclusive development requires a startup investment to ensure the basic platform from which to work with vulnerable groups. It requires specific measures and practices. Rights and Dignity found that “within the project we had to ensure the investment in affirmative actions. Inclusion is expensive because the appropriate providers are required, and tools must be developed as we go along through trial and error…affirmative actions are required with persons with disabilities, so they can be on par with other priority groups…It is important to work with the organizations of priority groups, so they can say how to work well with them. People must be put at the center of the processes.” • Promoting self-reliance requires a rights-based approach to development. “Those who design projects need to make the human rights-based approach cross cutting since it makes beneficiaries the subjects of rights and not assistance. Budgets should then be in relation to the type of targeted population because not everyone requires the same measures or resources. Development cannot be promoted without civil society, public institutions that are service providers need civil society empowered in their rights to become strengthened themselves.” (Government Integrity Project Inclusion Specialist. FGD, April 2019) • Subgrants as mechanisms to promote self-reliance: Subgrants are excellent mechanisms for the capacity-building of organizations of vulnerable groups if they are used
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as a learning-by-doing process. It leaves organizations capable of performing using USAID guidelines, and leaves room for newer organizations to participate in subgrants under the tutelage of the main subgrant holder, resulting in a cascading effect. This was the testimony of various LGBTI organizations that participated in Rights and Dignity subgrants. However, to prepare subgrants to become instruments in capacity-building, there are prerequisites that include:
o Personnel that manage them need to be trained in gender equality and human rights.
o Job descriptions for these personnel should require some level of expertise in gender and human rights knowledge.
o Personnel involved in management of subgrants must have training in gender, inclusion, and human rights issues and must coordinate with the Gender and Inclusion Specialists when preparing calls for proposal and during subgrant delivery.
o Conditions of subgrants aimed at the different vulnerable groups must consider the grantee’s time and financial resources when designing the measures that the grantee must comply with, including the timeline for completing the activities. • The lessons learned in implementing subgrants for vulnerable groups under current USAID subgrant management practices resulted in the following challenges:
o Serious difficulties arise for an organization of individuals with visual disabilities to fulfill USAID requirements on time. To overcome this, these individuals must make an alliance with another CSO, a necessity which does not help strengthen their organization. Also, there is a danger that the same lead organization becomes the usual grant recipient, generating a risk of creating exclusive groups with previous USAID experience.
o To avoid creating an exclusive group of USAID qualified grantees that exclude newer organizations because of their higher level of expertise, it should be a requirement to target a certain proportion of new groups as beneficiaries and to credit organizations for advancing the development of new groups in becoming formal organizations and building their capacities in the selection process of subgrants.
o Subgrants that will involve women as beneficiaries or as leaders of subgrantees should consider the cost of equity measures for caregiving that liberate women’s time for an effective implementation. • To build self-reliance with vulnerable groups, it is important to strengthen their organizational framework. Using subgrants is an effective mechanism, but there is need to develop appropriate practices to strengthen organizations for persons with disabilities and rural organizations. This needs to be considered from the moment of project design, by incorporating the required equitable adjustments in timelines, budgets, and skills and qualifications of the expertise required. It is important to avoid social discrimination in the budgeting of resources, ensuring adequate costing of inputs according to needs and not the social status of participants.
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• To be effective in a USAID activity, the mandate for an inclusive development with gender equality should be for the overall implementing team and not placed in one individual, it should also be approached from a strategic level, the COP level. • Knowledge management of gender and inclusion experiences is necessary to promote best practices, effectiveness, and development of competences among the personnel. Its purpose should be to develop tools to apply in the different sectors of work, since “not much is yet regulated, it is very important to document good practices throughout the project; guides are needed… to show how to do it.” • Communities of practice would be a useful mechanism to promote synergy among USAID activities, to make optimum use of resources, articulate and complement each other’s efforts, and add to results. A constraint identified by the FGD is that current USAID practices—not known if formal or just adopted—prevent communication across activities outside of the hierarchical lines. This is an opposing force to collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) promoted by ADS 201 that limits the potential for articulation at local levels and technical coordination and exchange of information at middle levels to make implementation more agile. • The experience of the Local Government Strengthening project is that it would be more effective for USAID activities working with the same local governments and/or in the same municipalities to enter those municipalities in an integrated manner. “Development is not fragmented, coordination between projects is difficult even within USAID activities, more so with others and the municipalities.” • The collaboration among activities would be facilitated by a directory and map that articulates organizations with themes and locations of work. Although some activities have made these for their work, this type of information is not currently shared between IPs without the acknowledgement of USAID. • To support these conclusions, the focus group stated that the Gender CLA meetings were welcomed by technical staff as an opportunity for exchanging up-to-date information with colleagues from other Activities as well as exchanging knowledge products. Nevertheless, this information did not transcend to the COP level nor to Agreement Officer Representatives/Contract Officer Representatives (AOR/CORs), so specific opportunities for collaboration could not be pursued. • Monitoring gender and inclusion objectives require moving beyond the registration of participation by sex to analyze information in relation to the outcomes and expected results of interventions. “Data management is an important challenge; it is obligatory to disaggregate but how to profit from disaggregating data by including it in the work done and leading to something good. It must be something more profound. Training is required periodically. There is need for a mechanism to collect information that is linked to the Theory of Change of the project.” Close collaboration among those who mainstream gender and inclusion with monitoring staff is “necessary…to adapt to the needs…and to ensure that all necessary data are collected at each event. Without data collection on time there is no capacity for analysis, awareness raising, communication.”
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2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS Strengthening IP effectiveness in inclusion with gender equality • USAID should promote a self-reliant approach based in human rights that empowers citizens as right holders with responsibilities, and the State as a guarantor. • In monitoring data for inclusion, intersectionality should be a criterion introduced in gathering people-related data to monitor results of the inclusive development. • In baseline assessments and data for monitoring, intersectionality should be recorded using variables related to the condition of vulnerable groups in order to identify them, define their initial conditions, and follow up the effect of initiatives on the target group as the USAID activity progresses. • USAID should strengthen inclusive development practices of organizations representing the targeted vulnerable groups, learning how to ensure their inclusion while strengthening their capacity to advocate for their interests, and to manage their organizations in sustainable ways. • To strengthen organizations of vulnerable groups, the methodology should be built on current USAID El Salvador best practices by systematizing subgrant experiences with vulnerable group organizations. Of particular benefit are those used by the USAID Rights and Dignity activity with LGBTI, persons with disabilities, and youth organizations to build capacity for advocacy in human rights while strengthening the sustainability of the organizations. • The design of inclusive development projects should include in their budget and timeline estimates of the cost of equity measures to overcome specific limitations identified in the participation of the target group. For example, for women and persons with disabilities, include the cost of caregiving equity measures; for persons with disabilities, include the cost of adaptations and accommodations in activities, and ensure the availability of these adaptations when selecting providers of event locations. • To use subgrants as mechanisms for the capacity-building of targeted CSOs of vulnerable groups, using methodologies of learning-by-doing, and enabling more advanced organizations to mentor less advanced ones through consortiums for subgrant implementation. • Ensure that USAID IPs, and particularly personnel assigned to manage subgrants, have the necessary skills to promote self-reliance.
o Managing personnel should have proven experience in gender equality and human rights, and if working with vulnerable groups knowledge of and sensitivity toward them should be a requirement.
o Before activities begin, personnel should undergo training in gender, inclusion, and human rights issues and, throughout implementation of the subgrant, should coordinate with the Gender and Inclusion Specialists to ensure an adequate focus.
o The inputs, timing, and expected results of subgrants aimed at the different vulnerable groups must consider the grantee time and financial resources.
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Strengthening IP personnel capacity in inclusive development: • Performance measurement by the results achieved using inclusive development methodologies should be part of job descriptions and workplans for all personnel in USAID Activities, not only for specialists or technical staff. • All staff of USAID Activities should be cognizant of the approach to development based on human rights, social inclusion, and gender equality. • To standardize performance within activities and across the Mission’s program, all personnel joining a USAID Activity should receive an induction that includes a mandatory briefing module that contains USAID policies, USAID Activity expected results, methodologies, and obligations of the staff Strengthening Administrative practices to promote social inclusion and gender equality • The Mission should ensure that all contracts and agreements with IPs include clauses that require application of an approach that promotes Gender Equality and an Inclusive Development approach, and that the plan to achieve appropriate results for the Activity be one of the products demanded and monitored. • To define a process of preparation of implementing teams of USAID activities for inclusive development that includes proper administrative procedures, standard basic training should be undertaken in gender equality, inclusion, and associated human rights, as well as good practices that will be in demand during the implementation. • Activities should be required to incorporate into performance measurement instruments ways to measure results for inclusion and for building capacities for self-reliance in the target groups of USAID activities. • USAID should demand that all members of implementing teams are responsible for inclusion and gender equality outcomes within their scope of responsibilities. • Knowledge management plans should include the use of information on the experiences of USAID activities in conducting inclusive development and promoting gender equality, to share and feed back to the implementation process. • USAID should institutionalize in the Mission’s program the participation of staff of USAID Activities in communities of practice for their area of expertise with colleagues from other Activities. Activities should be required share the knowledge they acquired and provide feedback to the rest of the implementation teams. • USAID should promote coordination at the municipal level among technical staff of USAID Activities and among the COPs that lead those Activities to ensure a synergistic operation in each municipality. • USAID should incorporate into the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) program formal processes to lead communities of practices where they can be useful to achieve the results of the program. • USAID should monitor program results on gender equality and inclusion for the target groups involved in each sector, using variables that allow to identify the intersectionality that exists in the target groups.
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VII. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE SELF- RELIANCE METRIC FINDINGS Table VII.1: Evidence for the Analysis of Self-Reliance Metric Findings Metric Findings 1.1 Open and accountable There is more participation of women and persons with disabilities only at governance national level, although not of the other vulnerable groups. 1.1.1 Liberal Democracy Score 0.5 1.1.2 Open Government The transparency policy framework operates well at the central level, but, at the local level, officers are appointed arbitrarily and discriminatory treatment of Score 0.41 women and indigenous has been reported. Lack of knowledge of their rights
prevents them from making complaints to enforce the law. Corruption is occurring at the highest places. At the central level, consultation tables are open to vulnerable groups to participate in policy formulation. At the local level, discrimination prevents access of vulnerable groups, except women. 1.2 Inclusive Development The policy framework for gender equality and life free of violence against women was enacted in 2012. There is nothing in place for gender identity and indigenous 1.2.1 Social Group Equality peoples. Enforcement is limited by hidden resistance motivated by the traditional Score 0.33 social imaginary. Social inequality based on prejudices towards gender identity is not curtailed by law. Evidence of a backlash and retaliation against women and LGBTI persons for their gains in equality is seen in number of victims of homicides. Education and training of public servants to apply the new laws is not occurring fast enough to change the paradigm of patriarchy with domination of men over other men with different gender identities or disabilities and the subordination of women. This is limiting the transition to a culture based on respect for human rights. The protection against violent male backlashes catalyzed by the LEIV is dissipated by the limited effectiveness of the justice system. Instituted measures are carried out with built-in inefficiencies that hamper results (i.e., LEIV-specialized tribunals dealing with a deluge of domestic violence cases). A culture of human rights is not promoted nor institutionalized by the State through the education system or in the public arena. The justice system lacks the capacity to guarantee the economic rights and the right to personal integrity and safety, through an effective system of victim protection. This enables violations of the basic right to life leading to forced internal displacement of victims and their eventual emigration, estimated at almost a million since 2015. 1.2.2 Economic Gender Gap The lack of equality is reflected as lower salary levels are paid to women for work of equal value, even in occupational sectors where they are most of the Score 0.61 labor force. 1.3 Economic Policy There are constraints that limit women’s capacity to contribute to the country’s economy. The main one is credit, limited by bank rules related property guarantees for bank loans and the banks’ risk averseness and avoidance of non- 82
Metric Findings 1.3.1 Business Environment traditional credit practices, even if proven successful in microfinancing. Microfinancing interest rates are too costly to enable growth of women-led Score 0.53 enterprises.
Sectors of occupation and gaps in salaries reflect the operation of the patriarchal paradigm. Women and men are majorities in occupational sectors according to assigned gender roles and responsibilities. Even in those areas where women predominate, men’s salaries are higher than women’s. One barrier to growth of women-led export enterprises is attitudinal, the discriminatory treatment that some customs warehouse staff have against women; another is access to capital limited by types of guarantee required, as discussed above. The agricultural value-added chain has a comparative advantage for women engaged in food transformation. This is the sector with the lowest salary levels, as the men engaged in agriculture used to be the dispossessed indigenous population. Barriers to growth are the need to innovate, the need for capital for production technology and working capital, and the lack of technical assistance adapted to women. 2.1 Government Capacity There has been a sluggish performance of the State as guarantor of the rights of women and vulnerable groups since 2012 when most of these laws came into 2.1.1 Government effect. Delays are partially justified in relation to the limited funding available. Effectiveness However, most institutions are at the stage of planning the harmonization of the Score 0.46 laws with their institutional regulations. The main barrier is attitudinal, which hampers implementation. The State has not performed well in ensuring the safety of its weakest, since no legislation is in place to guarantee equality based on gender identity and ethnicity. Operationally, the rights of persons with disabilities are not safeguarded as no significant penalties are imposed on private and public sector entities that neglect implementation. The main barrier among judges, security forces, and officers delivering public services to performance is attitudinal. Eradication of the discriminating social imaginary through training is slow; however, even when trained, most judges continue to evade the application of the LEIV. Security forces are distrusted and accused of violating the rights of victims. Authorities are distrusted as there has been retaliation against those that complain, and often cases denounced are resolved with light sentences or freedom. The system has difficulty detecting crimes related to GBV as the data collected do not include variables to detect it; and, even when they do, officers choose to collect the data or not, without penalty. Thus, the system tolerates discrimination in its operation. 2.1.2 Safety and Security The State shows an inadequate performance as guarantor of the right to personal protection. The evidence shows a gendered focus in violence. Security Score 0.33 forces are lumping the victims with the aggressors. Victims are under constant threats and must assist the gangs in the crimes assigned. A Stockholm syndrome may even exist among residents of gang-controlled communities that escape through internal displacement. There is evidence of an increasing proportion of elderly women and young men in the total of violent deaths in the period in addition to women of all ages. The violence is selective. Most at risk of death are transgender women, women, and young men. Even less life-threatening crimes such as robberies, theft, and rape have a gendered focus. People are escaping the violence by changing domiciles constantly, creating human displacement that, without protection and support for income earning, migrates to the United States.
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Metric Findings There is increased involvement of males and females as victims of gang violence. Their roles and the type of violence used to control them are assigned based on sex and age. 2.2 Civil Society Capacity In the face of this threatening situation and violation of their rights, vulnerable groups have shown initiative in organizing and advocating for their safety, access 2.2.1 Civil Society & Media to health care (persons with disabilities, in particular), and employment. This has Effectiveness taken place even to the extent of increasing their participation in electoral 2.3 Citizen Capacity politics, although their roles in decision-making are limited by prejudice in political parties. Score 0.84 At the community and local levels, discrimination and prejudice keep vulnerable 2.3.1 Poverty Rate ($5/day) groups from performing. Their organizations have advanced in their capacities Score 0.73 to advocate and begin to form intra-group alliances to unite for advocacy. The young generation has coalesced in new movements: women around issues Education quality such as decriminalization of abortion and defense of human rights defenders; Score 0.35 LGBTI to protect their lives by enforcing reforms to the criminal code related to hate crimes and around a law for identity to support transgender persons; and persons with disabilities formulated a proposal for a law of inclusion. Nevertheless, as groups, they are affected by poverty. The lower two income quintiles are residing in marginalized areas that have been taken over by gang influence or are under full gang control. Poverty limits their capacity to leave, as they lose the value of their assets when they escape by internal displacement. They have poor access to well-paid employment as 54.4 percent of Salvadorans earn less than $300 per month. Thus, vulnerable groups’ poverty limits their capacity to seek safety in better zones, and obtain an education that provides access to better paid employment.
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