El Salvador

Legislative Assembly

Data on women

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Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Ernesto Alfredo Castro Aldana (Male)
Year of birth
1971
Additional information
Elected on 1 May 2021.
See historical data for this field.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men
Click for historical data
See historical data for this field.
Women
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See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members
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See historical data for this field.

Reserved seats and quotas

Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Notes
Legislated candidate quotas. In their candidate lists for elections to the Legislative Assembly, political parties must ensure that at least 30% of their candidates are women. Both candidates and alternates should collectively contribute to meeting this percentage. Political parties that do not comply with this provision will be fined between 15 and 55 basic salaries, and will have 15 days to correct their list according to what the law stipulates.
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1939
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1961
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1961
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
1994

Specialized body - Women's caucus

Parliamentary Group of Women of the Legislative Assembly (GPM)
(January 2009)
Formal or informal
Formal
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
The Committee on Women and Gender Equality is responsible for studying and proposing to the Plenary law reforms and proposals that seek to improve the situation of women in El salvador. The Gender Unit is responsible for providing technical support on legal matters to the Women's Parliamentary Group and the Women's Committee.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
Yes

Activities

Issues dealt with by the caucus
The GPM has worked to mainstream the gender perspective into the laws promoted by the National Assembly, and specific laws have been created to address the historical demands of women in order to guarantee their rights in conditions of equality and non-discrimination.

The following laws that defend women's rights were approved due to the support of the GPM:

-Special Comprehensive Law for a Life without Violence for Women,
-The Law on Equality, Equity and Eradication of Discrimination against Women in El Salvador, in March 2011.

Additionally:
-The first General National Budget with a Gender Focus was approved.
-The GPM managed to influence the labeling of budget items through Legislative Decree number 67 of November 2009, which included positive actions in favor of women in the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women (ISDEMU).
-Budget allocations of a minimum of 40% for education were established in the area of literacy in favor of women.
-Funds were allocated for cytology and mammography programes.
-In the Fund for the Protection of Persons Disabled and Handicapped as a Result of the Armed Conflict, women benefited from 50% of the resources allocated to social and productive reintegration projects.
The caucus has a strategic plan or plan of action
Yes
The caucus has a communication plan
Yes