{"id":4617,"date":"2024-12-18T09:42:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T09:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2024-12-18T09:42:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T09:42:55","slug":"el-salvador-how-female-textile-workers-claim-their-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/4617\/el-salvador-how-female-textile-workers-claim-their-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador \u2014 How Female Textile Workers Claim Their Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador since 2019, describes himself as \u201cthe coolest dictator in the world.\u201d<\/a> His initial election, hailed by the EU as “credible, transparent, and well-organized,”<\/a> was a clear victory. However, his re-election in February 2024 was illegal, as six constitutional articles prohibit direct re-election. Nevertheless, Bukele remains popular, mainly due to his promise to dismantle gang violence while taking office. Before his administration, El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world. Today, this rate has dropped to a record-low level.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selling Basic Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bukele’s method? A policy mainly based on arbitrary arrests. Tens of thousands, including children, have been detained. At the end of this causal chain often stands a woman, who, as a result of state arbitrariness, becomes the sole breadwinner for her family. Hence, she becomes increasingly vulnerable to exploitative working conditions. Meanwhile, violence against women remains alarmingly high, with one woman being murdered by a man daily in El Salvador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruno Essig, head of Latin American programs at Br\u00fccke Le Pont, reports concerning exploitative conditions: \u201cTextile workers are not paid their wages, they work unpaid overtime, and they have no social benefits. Sexual harassment occurs frequently.\u201d These poor working conditions often lead to chronic health issues, Essig continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Multifaceted Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, Br\u00fccke Le Pont has established a project that strengthens both democratic structures and women’s rights. As part of this project, Br\u00fccke Le Pont relies on labor law to help improve the lives of textile workers. For over a decade, the organization has partnered with the women’s rights NGO Ormusa, taking a multifaceted approach: supporting affected individuals in court and strengthening state institutions. Since 2019, they have focused on supporting the expansion of the public prosecutor’s office, enhancing services to reach more regions and, thus, more people. Additionally, they offer legal training for lawyers in labor law, with a particular emphasis on gender and human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions for Victims<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Br\u00fccke Le Pont\u2019s sustainable approach has borne fruit. \u201cWe\u2019ve pushed for the state to prioritize addressing labor rights violations,\u201d says Essig. \u201cIt is important to us that the local communities take ownership of the project,” he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaboration between Br\u00fccke Le Pont and El Salvador\u2019s public prosecutor\u2019s office has been ongoing for six years. As a result, new positions were created, allowing bailiffs to pursue labor violations. The Attorney General\u2019s office pays salaries for these roles. In the past five years, over 4,000 workers have received compensation totaling about $9.3 million, with an average annual project budget of 60,000 Swiss francs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The context surrounding Bukele shows that the project remains relevant. While young men remain the primary targets of arbitrary detention, the social and economic fallout for women\u2014who often bear the brunt of these policies\u2014requires urgent attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador since 2019, describes himself as \u201cthe coolest dictator in the world.\u201d His initial election, hailed by the EU as “credible, transparent, and well-organized,” was a clear victory. However, his re-election in February 2024 was illegal, as six constitutional articles prohibit direct re-election. Nevertheless, Bukele remains popular, mainly due to … El Salvador \u2014 How Female Textile Workers Claim Their Rights<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"issue":[324],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00e0 propos","author_link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/author\/apropos\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/a-propos-Bild-Brucke-187-600x332.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Reports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 18, 2024","modified":"Updated on December 18, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 18, 2024 9:42 am","modified":"Updated on December 18, 2024 9:42 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4617"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4905,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions\/4905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=4617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}