Stronger together: A powerful vision on International Women’s Day in El Salvador

Photos: Vanguardia and the National Health Forum. 

Growing up in the U.S., I really had no idea that International Women’s Day was even a thing – that is, until learning about an International Women’s Day march in El Salvador!

I remember being struck by how big the march was, the creativity of the signs, the vibrantpurple and green all around. But more importantly, I was moved by the vision of feminism it offered: one rooted in solidarity, working-class struggle, and internationalism, and filled with the promise of something new.

From the reports we’re getting from allies in El Salvador, this past Tuesday was no different!

In San Salvador and across the country, women marched as part of their rural federations, war veterans’ associations, student orgs, LGBTI coalitions, textile and healthcare workers unions, and more to lay claim to their rights and call for an end to violence and discrimination against women. Read more about the demands that brought marchers to the streets in our latest blog here.

This year, the march was fueled by an increased urgency to demand a gender-focused State response to femicides, disappearances, mass graves, and other forms of violence, which have reached crisis levels in El Salvador.

Throughout the country, women marched under the banner: “We are stronger together” and held signs reading: “Why are you scared by those who fight and not by those who are missing?” “In a State that commits femicide, to be alive is rebellion,” and “Neither the earth nor women’s bodies are territories of conquest.”