Share

Share this

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

On Saturday, March 14, Congress approved a state of emergency at the request of the Executive Branch to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in the Central American country. To date, the Ministry of Health has confirmed 13 cases of infection and no deaths. 

The state of emergency is valid for 15 days and can be extended. The measure temporarily affects certain constitutional rights, such as freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and the right not to be forced to change one's residence. 

The countries of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic that make up the Central American Integration System (SICA), report to date a total of 1,081 confirmed cases; 21 deaths and 1,056 active cases.

Transgender sex workers, the most affected 

LGBTI activists and human rights defenders have created a group on the social network Facebook to coordinate care for affected people, receive reports of rights violations, and organize help for those who need it.

The group has received requests for help from trans women who perform sex work on the streets of San Salvador, but whose income has ceased due to the inactivity caused by the state of emergency.

For the Solidarity Association to Promote Human Development (ASPIDH Arcoiris Trans), the main impact on the trans population is the lack of economic income for sex workers, entrepreneurs, informal vendors and older adults who have not been taken into account by the emergency subsidy programs announced by the government. 

“I believe that the Salvadoran State is not prepared for this type of national emergency or any other disaster, at the level of the general population and much less for populations in context of vulnerability such as the LGBTI,” Mónica Linares of ASPIDH told Presentes.

Among the palliative measures that organizations have implemented is the distribution of a basic food basket. However, they believe this is insufficient to cover the 30 days of the decreed quarantine.

The government has stipulated that those who entered the country before March 17, the date on which they decreed the closure of borders and the prohibition of the arrival of flights, must remain confined for 30 days in 62 shelters or containment centers where they will remain in quarantine.

According to Bryan Rodríguez, deputy director of Trans Men El Salvador (HT), a trans man, a gay man, and two lesbians have been detained at a shelter located in the department of Chalatenango (88 kilometers north of the capital). They also reported the arrest of two trans women who were found on the street outside of permitted hours. 

“Shelter staff have threatened people to prevent them from revealing information about the limited conditions in the centers. Healthcare staff are not complying with the guidelines for treating LGBTI people, as they call them by the name on their official documents, which does not correspond to their gender identity,” Bryan Rodríguez, deputy director of HT El Salvador, told Presentes.

HT is trying to confirm the confinement in detention centers of 2 trans men and 6 trans women.

People in government-run shelters have reported appalling conditions and inadequate medical care, hindering efforts to prevent the spread of disease.
“The facilities were infested with insects and lacked the necessary sanitary conditions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They weren't even being provided with personal hygiene products,” Rodríguez stated.

Salvadoran president turns his back on LGBTI population

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who took office on June 1, eliminated five State Secretariats just hours after beginning his term, including the Secretariat of Social Inclusion, which served vulnerable and LGBTI populations.

Within the Secretariat of Social Inclusion, the first Directorate of Sexual Diversity was established to promote the eradication of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity within the public administration. Bukele's decision was to transfer this directorate to the Ministry of Culture. Currently, the LGBTI population lacks a forum to report violations in the context of the health crisis caused by the Coronavirus.

“Uniformed forces were already attacking the LGBTI population, and now it’s happening even more, because they’re controlling people’s movement and preventing them from leaving their homes. So far, we have no information that anyone has been assaulted by the police, but we are monitoring the situation closely,” Rodríguez emphasized.

Bukele, who will govern for the next five years, was elected in the last elections with the right-wing Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) party. During the election campaign, he stated his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

El Salvador does not have a gender identity law that would allow, among other things, the collection of official statistics on crimes committed against the LGBTI population.