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        {"code":"25326","sect":"Columns","sect_slug":"columns","hits":"1074","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202103\/columns\/25326","link_edit":"","name":"Misogyny Wins Elections in El Salvador","slug":"misogyny-wins-elections-in-el-salvador","info":"","mtag":"Inequality","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/mnochez'\u003E Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"maria-luz-nochez":{"sort":"mnochez","slug":"maria-luz-nochez","path":"maria_luz_nochez","name":"Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"1074","pict":{"cms-image-000035507-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"35507","name":"cms-image-000035507.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035507.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000035507.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000035507-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez is a journalist and the opinion coordinator at El Faro.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EMar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez is a journalist and the opinion coordinator at El Faro.\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":35507,"date":{"live":"2021\/03\/10"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2021","data_post_dateLive_MM":"03","data_post_dateLive_DD":"10","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E(\u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202103\/columnas\/25319\/En-El-Salvador-ser-machista-es-popular.htm\"\u003ERead in Spanish\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAs final results arrive from the February 28 elections, the contours of the next Legislative Assembly are coming into sharp relief: a party that embraces misogyny will govern El Salvador. Beyond sheer numbers, the track records of the winners suggest that, for the next three years, the dominant ideology in the Assembly will be misogynistic and conservative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe electoral results show that openly misogynistic politicians,\u00a0regardless of party, are more popular in the eyes of voters than their female rivals. Walter Araujo, a prominent Nuevas Ideas candidate who was disqualified from running due to openly misogynistic remarks, is just one of many emblematic figures in his party, which will control two-thirds of the Assembly. The new faces among the Nuevas Ideas deputies have yet to show their true colors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWomen, furthermore, will occupy just 24 of the 84 seats in the legislature, a low in female representation \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/7s.laprensagrafica.com\/el-salvador-lejos-de-la-paridad-de-genero-en-politica\/\"\u003Ein more than a decade\u003C\/a\u003E. Of these women, two-thirds come from the winning party which refused to condemn the behavior of its misogynistic candidates. Only one of the 24 women openly calls herself a feminist and voices support for the rights of women and LBGTQ people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EShe\u2019ll share the Assembly floor with Araujo, who built his current political brand by sparring with Bukele\u2019s political opponents from his Twitter account and YouTube channel, calling them \u201clos mismos de siempre\u201d (the usual suspects) as if he weren\u2019t one of them.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EA founder of Arena, Araujo promised to shake up the Assembly under former president Francisco Flores (1999 - 2004). He later deserted the party, running for mayor of San Salvador with GANA in 2015. Now, he\u2019s a star of Nuevas Ideas. Bound to reappear in the Assembly in some capacity, his broad popularity was his ticket to power.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EHe has leveraged his social media platforms to lob vulgar attacks against women, especially against one in particular: Bertha Mar\u00eda Dele\u00f3n, an attorney and his former opponent in his campaign for the Assembly. Suffice it to say that the least of their insults was that she was \u201ctoxic.\u201d Following steady online harassment from Araujo and other members and supporters of his party, Dele\u00f3n filed a complaint against Araujo with the Constitutional Chamber, leading to his disqualification from running for any public office for the duration of the trial, which is still ongoing.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAraujo isn\u2019t the only harasser in his party, nor is Dele\u00f3n their first target. Before her, the president\u2019s allies goaded their supporters into demeaning the physical appearance of FMLN deputy Cristina Cornejo, one of the fiercest opponents of Bukele\u2019s envoys to the Legislative Assembly to negotiate pandemic spending.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhen now-ambassador to Washington Milena Mayorga ran for the Legislative Assembly with Arena in 2018, these same characters launched similar attacks, dredging up old photos of her drinking beer and partying. They do it for sport, because they can and because the odds of facing consequences are low.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhile the collapse of Araujo\u2019s candidacy set an important precedent in ending the impunity that fuels expressions of violence against women, not even the Chamber\u2019s ruling will ultimately curb his power. Ernesto Castro, Bukele\u2019s former personal secretary and the candidate who notched the most votes in San Salvador, backed Araujo by \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ECastroES\/status\/1354261640406065161\"\u003Epromising him a job in the Assembly\u003C\/a\u003E with Nuevas Ideas, in spite of his public behavior and legal action against him for failure to pay child support.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAnother prominent figure in the next Assembly will be Carlos Hermann Bruch, who various female journalists and other women have publicly accused of sexual harassment and bullying, sometimes of underage girls, in private messages on Facebook and Twitter. \u201cI\u2019m like God; let the little girls [ni\u00f1as] come unto me,\u201d reads one example.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThen there\u2019s the case of deputy-elect Eduardo Amaya from San Miguel, which surfaced in the final stretch of the campaign \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/especial.elfaro.net\/los-84-candidatos-de-bukele\"\u003Ein an investigation by El Faro\u003C\/a\u003E into the legislative candidates of the party poised to govern the country. The best way to get a woman to obey, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/especial.elfaro.net\/images\/los-84\/xtra\/francisco-eduardo-amaya-benitez-03.jpeg\"\u003Ehe said eight years ago\u003C\/a\u003E, is to threaten to kill her mother. None of it mattered; he received the most votes of any legislative candidate in the department.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThese behaviors are as ancient as the cockroach and equally as hard to purge. Misogyny is in the home, at school, \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201510\/noticias\/17421\/Una-victoria-contra-la-violencia-hacia-las-mujeres-en-el-FISDL.htm\"\u003Ein the workplace\u003C\/a\u003E, at the gym, \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201803\/columnas\/21638\/la-fantasia-de-las-mujeres.htm\"\u003Eon the street\u003C\/a\u003E, at the beach, in restaurants and bars, on social media, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.elsalvador.com\/eldiariodehoy\/periodistas-salvadorenas-abogan-por-crear-protocolo-por-acoso-en-medios\/663586\/2019\/\"\u003Ein journalism\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/especiales.elfaro.net\/es\/el_paraiso_de_violadores\/impunidad\/19894\/\"\u003Ethe Fiscal\u00eda\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201208\/noticias\/9287\/Asamblea-oculta-informe-que-revela-que-35-de-sus-empleadas-sufren-acoso-sexual.htm\"\u003Ethe Assembly\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/especiales.elfaro.net\/es\/el_paraiso_de_violadores\/palabra_de_juez\/20124\/%E2%80%9CEs-dif%C3%ADcil-que-ofrezcamos-acceso-a-la-justicia-si-tambi%C3%A9n-somos-v%C3%ADctimas-y-victimarios%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003ESupreme Court of Justice\u003C\/a\u003E, and Casa Presidencial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ENobody is born a misogynist, but it takes root in the womb and is constantly nurtured by reinforcing behavior. Quiet women, we are told, are \u201cprettier,\u201d and we should honor the gift of obedience. Meanwhile, the louder a man talks, the better. And if their voice can\u2019t quite reach, the microphones are close by.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn saying this, I wish I were committing the fallacy of overgeneralization or speaking from my narrow experience or that of a friend. But the voices of women who have entrusted their stories to me, a reporter, in four years investigating violence against women back me up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIf that\u2019s not enough, I offer as proof the results of the most recent elections. The smearing of women for their appearance and what they represent \u2014 be it party, ideology, their causes and their expertise \u2014 was a determining factor in winning over followers and, above all, votes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EReceiving Nayib\u2019s blessing is more powerful than forgiveness from the pope, wiping away the past \u2014 be it political, violent, or corrupt \u2014 and promising success and impunity. There\u2019s nothing strange about this for a man who ignores violence against women unless he can gain something from it. In his tireless efforts to demonstrate that El Salvador is safer since he became president, in July of 2019 he claimed there had been no homicides that day \u2014 with the exception of one femicide, which he opted to describe as a \u201ccrime of passion.\u201d For reasons still unclear and unexplained by the president, homicide levels appear to have fallen overall, but that doesn\u2019t mean that women here live in paradise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele was markedly tight-lipped about the wave of murders of trans women in 2019 \u2014 one murder every week for seven weeks. He took the same silent approach amid rising femicides and domestic violence during the first three months of the Covid-19 stay-at-home order. From March 21 to May 14, the Feminist Network against Violence against Women reported 18 femicides.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe president broke his silence on the violence to report a statistic which, of course, made him look good. In a press conference on June 4, 2020 intended as a sort of state-of-the-nation address following his first year in office, he boasted of a 61 percent decline in violence against women since he took office and railed against feminists who he accused, as he has with other human rights advocates, of being shills for the FMLN.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMore recently, the president has said nothing about the abuse of a man accredited to cover the February elections for the government-run National Radio toward FMLN candidates Daniela Genovez y Karina Sosa. The man, who was arrested on March 8 on charges including expressions of violence against women and online harassment, mixed insults with catcalls toward the two women on his YouTube channel. \u201cThey\u2019ll say it\u2019s sexual harassment,\u201d snickered another man in the video.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhen questioned by the press about the man\u2019s statements, Ernesto Castro \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Teleprensa33\/status\/1368698689888354309\"\u003Eresponded\u003C\/a\u003E: \u201cYou\u2019d have to ask that to the YouTubers,\u201d because \u201cthis is a democratic country where you\u2019re free to voice your support for whoever you want.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe administration did, however, spring into action to paint over the spray-painted messages that female protesters scrawled on walls and monuments in downtown San Salvador \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202103\/ef_foto\/25317\/Las-mujeres-marcharon-contra-todo.htm\"\u003Eduring protests on Sunday, March 7\u003C\/a\u003E for International Women\u2019s Day. Along the walls of the National Palace, a historic landmark, and throughout Plaza Barrios read messages of protest, among them: \u201cThe police don\u2019t keep me safe;\u201d \u201cfor the women we\u2019re missing;\u201d and \u201cabort your Nayib, Walter, and Bruch.\u201d By that evening, the Ministry of Public Works had covered the walls in a fresh layer of paint and the administration breathed a sigh of relief.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe restoration of San Salvador\u2019s Centro Hist\u00f3rico became a symbol for Bukele as mayor of San Salvador. It\u2019s so unpopular for women to demand their rights through protest that, as the march drew near, female street vendors along Avenida Espa\u00f1a yelled from their stands, \u201cget a hobby,\u201d when chants mentioned Bukele.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThat afternoon, a video circulated among the president\u2019s supporters, in which a woman stood at the foot of the statue of Gerardo Barrios, which had also received a spray-paint makeover. The markings, the woman said indignantly, weren\u2019t the actions of \u201ctrue feminists.\u201d The protests, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoseValdezSV\/status\/1368697788603699200\"\u003Eshe continued\u003C\/a\u003E, were a \u201cshow.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe future looks grim, especially given that one feminist will swim alone is a sea of enablers of misogyny and cut-throat conservatism. Times of resistance are on the horizon. A century ago, in 1921, women working as vendors in San Salvador took the streets to protest awful living conditions and the repression of the Mel\u00e9ndez Qui\u00f1\u00f3nez regime. By November of that year, women had obtained suffrage. I wish it wasn\u2019t so, but history teaches us that we must resist.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E*Translated by Roman Gressier\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=2000&ImageHeight=1684&ImageId=35507 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez is a journalist and the opinion coordinator at El Faro.\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez is a journalist and the opinion coordinator at El Faro. \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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