All over the world, women took to the streets last March 8th. Also in the capital of El Salvador, San Salvador, thousands of women protested against the extremely rigid abortion law in their country: abortion is forbidden without exception.
Report of our National Coordinator El Salvador, Sandra Ramirez from San Salvador
As in many other countries, thousands of women took to the streets in El Salvador on March 8th for very concrete demands. The colourful demonstration procession with banners, drum music, performances and speeches led through the city centre to the parliament building. The central concern was a reform of the abortion law. Because El Salvador has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. Abortion is prohibited under all circumstances and can be punished with a prison sentence of 30 to 40 years. Nevertheless, there are a large number of secret abortions in which women are exposed to serious health risks, some of them resulting in death. A broad alliance of women's rights organisations in the country has drawn up a proposal for amendments to the law.
Impunity in specific situations
During the march, they reaffirmed their concern that abortion should be exempt from punishment in four specific circumstances: when the mother's life is at risk, when the pregnancy is the result of rape, when the foetus is not viable, and in the case of minors, when the pregnancy is the result of sexual violence and the legal guardians agree to terminate the pregnancy. One of the banners summed it up well: "Girls in El Salvador deserve a better life than prison or an unwanted pregnancy.
Women's Day still important
International Women's Day has been celebrated for more than 100 years and has not lost any of its importance to this day. Women's rights are currently under threat in many countries of the world due to reactionary and right-wing populist policies. Women around the world are fighting against this. The Womens March in Washington in January showed the mobilising power of women's movements. They represent a global opposition against backward-looking forces.
