El Salvador's Women Rise Up Against Gender Violence, Femicide

By teleSUR

28 April 18

 

"We demand that the state guarantee the right to a life free of violence," the protesters chanted outside the Attorney General's Office.

omen's rights organizations in El Salvador gathered outside the Attorney General’s Office on Friday to protest the surge in femicides, violence and unsolved crimes.

"We demand that the state guarantee the right to a life free of violence," the campaigners chanted. Banners were held aloft, reading: 'Alert! They are killing us,' 'If a woman is attacked, her whole environment is destabilized' and '145 homicides, enough is enough.'

Another sign read: 'It is not a crime of passion, it is a crime of patriarchy.'

The city of Santa Lucia is currently mourning the loss of yet another daughter: Aura Marily Giron Cardona was recently gunned down in front of her two children, aged five and seven, after picking them up from school.

Giron was approached by an individual on a motorcycle and then shot six or seven times in the back of the head, which killed her instantly. The children were unharmed. Three suspects have so far been apprehended and investigations continue.

Gabriela Diaz, of feminist association Las Digas, is now demanding justice, with special attention given to femicide cases.

Women's rights defender Bessy Rios agrees: "Enough of femicides; enough of women dying in this country."

In 2016, El Salvador recorded 318 femicides. This number increased dramatically in 2017, when 468 femicides were registered.

Almost half of the victims were aged between 15 and 29, according to the Institute of Legal Medicine states. In the first four months of 2018, a total of 144 femicides have been reported.

High-profile cases include the murder of La Prensa journalist Karla Liseth Turcios, strangled by her husband, and the murders of Katherinne Carcamo de Arevalo and Dr. Roda Bonilla, both found in their homes and allegedly killed by their husbands.

The United Nations has also called on El Salvador's government to put a decisive end to violence against women.