An unprecedented law in El Salvador has officially been made public after meeting overwhelming approval in the national legislative assembly. El Salvador, a Central American country that has the world’s highest rates of female murder, passed this law to stop these high levels of violence directed at women. The comprehensive law addresses and punishes all forms of violence against women.
Next year when the law enters into force, the El Salvadoran government, to continue the effort to decrease the prevalence of violence against women, will create a National Policy for Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence.
Until then, the Salvadoran Women’s Parliamentary Group, a group integral to the passing of the law, will continue to work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to establish a specialized unit that ensures that women’s rights and needs are addressed and met in the legislative assembly as well as the national budget.
Compiled from: El Salvador: Women in Parliament Unite on New Law Against Violence (21 March 2011), WURN.