Lilian, the last of the 17, is free

Lilian, the last of “the 17+,” is finally free serving seven years of her thirty-year prison sentence. “I’m very happy to be reunited with my family. I appreciate the support of all the people who fought for my freedom and that of my comrades. As I’ve said and will continue to repeat: I am innocent. I also ask, on behalf of my fellow women, that they stop reporting women, who, like us, are innocent.” [Source: “We celebrate the freedom of the 17+…” (Available in Spanish)]

Her release was achieved through the relentless hard work of the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto and actions by the feminist and women’s movements in the region. But as Morena Herrera, a member of the Agrupación, says, this victory is part of a bigger struggle for the pursuit and reification of justice. Indeed, “sexual and reproductive rights continue to be denied, and in public hospitals, women who have suffered obstetric emergencies are at risk of being jailed.” [Source: “We celebrate the freedom of the 17+…” (Available in Spanish)]

A vicious persecution that began twenty-six years ago

Upon entering into force, the Penal Code of 1998 eliminated any and all grounds for the termination of pregnancies by women and people capable of childbearing in El Salvador; these included risks to the childbearer’s health, pregnancies as the result of rape, and unviability outside of the uterus.

The unqualified criminalization of abortion in El Salvador signaled the beginning of a wave of unprecedented persecutions. The Attorney General’s Office is now the inquisitorial presence that coerces healthcare providers to report, under threat of jail for concealment, every person who enters a public hospital that is suspected of having induced an abortion.

This means that if a woman or person capable of bearing a child enters a public hospital with an obstetric emergency, they may be suspected of having had an abortion, which could result in a sentence of thirty or more years in prison for aggravated homicide.

Between 1999 and 2019, one-hundred and eighty-one women were prosecuted for abortions and obstetric emergencies [Source: “From the Hospital to Jail. 1998–2019” (Available in Spanish)]. But who are the women persecuted and imprisoned by the Salvadoran justice system?

These persecutions “are not carried out against all Salvadoran women equally, but against those who live in vulnerable conditions […] and whose right to a legal defense has been stropped so they are left to face a criminalizing machine.” [Source: “Each case in its own labyrinth” (Available in Spanish)]

We are talking about mainly young women living in poverty, with very little schooling or illiterate, many of whom do not have an income or work as domestic workers, waitresses, or laborers, or who do jobs that do not exceed the minimum wage. Furthermore, [these women] must face these circumstances on their own since those who impregnated them are conspicuous by their absence.

That nearly all targeted persons are in vulnerable situations highlights the cruelty of the persecution carried out by the Salvadoran State. For them, the absolute criminalization of abortion means the denial of a series of human rights, such as the right to presumption of innocence, the right to an effective defense, the right to patient–doctor confidentiality, the right to health, sexual and reproductive rights, and the right to life. This evinces a systemic and structural problem rooted in classism and racism – a clear example of an abscence of social and reproductive justice.

“It could, therefore, be assumed that the women who are prosecuted for abortion or aggravated homicide are those who seek help from the police or the public health system when faced with obstetric complications, due to an unsafe abortion or premature, unattended births because of their poverty, low educational level, and degree of marginalization – seek help from the police or the public health system, while not being clearly aware that they may be accused of a crime.” [Source: “From the Hospital to Jail. 1998–2019” (Available in Spanish)]

Movements that resist against all odds

In Central America, the fight for sexual and reproductive rights and the right to decide represents a huge challenge and a very high risk for the security, life, and sustainability of the activists, defenders, organizations, collectives, and networks that make up the feminist and women’s movements. Precisely because the region is made up of some of the countries with the most restrictive abortion laws – with high levels of structural violence and lack of institutional support that guarantees human rights – to fight, resist, and persist in the defense of women’s lives requires resilience and political creativity.

In El Salvador, the work of Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto is a key actor in the release of imprisoned women and the pursuit of justice for them and their families. The group emerged in 2009, in the heat of the fight for the freedom of women criminalized for premature births and/or obstetric emergencies.

It came into existence in a context where individual and collective self-censorship were the norm due to people’s fear of criminalization and imprisonment. Even so, their public stance became “I believe you,” originally in response to Karina, a woman who had been unjustly accused [of having an abortion] and sentenced to thirty years in prison. She was released in 2009, following the actions and accompaniment provided by Agrupación Ciudadana and the solidarity the networks that arose to defend her innocence.

Agrupación Ciudadana proposes three lines of action: women’s freedom, change of social imaginaries, and a legal paradigm shift.

“The need to put forth an effective demand in conjunction with the increase in the number of cases of criminalized women serving disproportionate sentences led us to decide to file a class action lawsuit with a request for individual pardons. This is how the “Freedom for the 17! Let’s not let their lives wither away” campaign was born. “[The faces of the campaign] weren’t all serving a sentence; instead, Agrupación relied on documented cases that facilitated the issuing of a pardon. [Source: “Each case in its own labyrinth” (Available in Spanish)]

“When we began on this path — and this has to do with that change in narratives that we began in the Agrupación — we started to investigate who are the women who face the consequences [of this persecution]. This allowed us not only to create a feminist legal strategy to achieve the freedom of the women who had been criminalized, but also to connect with other comrades and the social movements. I remember the sit-ins in front of the courts and the solidarity in the fight for the freedom of the 17, and how they allowed us to connect with the feminist movement in El Salvador. By weaving narratives that centered the lives of women and demanded that the state stop persecuting us, we not only united the movements but also achieved the freedom of [criminalized] women. This is all linked our collective work, the strength of the arguments we have put forth as part of the movements, and the possibility of building hope,” says Sara García, a member of the Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto.

Sara recounts how everything that has been done, such as the proceedings before the Inter-American Human Rights System, has implied the construction of alliances, the creation of communication campaigns, and political advocacy work. It has also meant strategic litigation and social mobilization. She believes that the fact that Manuela’s and Beatriz’s cases were heard by the Inter-American System is a great contribution by the Central American activists because they have managed to get the Court to state its opinion on this issue, and in addition, they have compelled the Salvadoran State to listen, to be tried, and to be condemned.

In 2021, they achieved official condemnation for the Salvadoran State for cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. As a result, non-repetition and comprehensive reparation measures were issued.

In 2023, Beatriz’s story was heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; the Agrupación Ciudadana was present at the hearing with the participation of the feminist movement and Sombrilla Centroamericana. “While outside the court, we accompanied our Salvadoran comrades and Beatriz’s family. It was a great opportunity for the region because Beatriz had requested an abortion [and been denied]. The hope is that [her experience] will result in measures of non-repetition so these extremely restrictive laws can be stricken. In addition, [we hope] reparations are made to Beatriz’s family, which will aid the pursuit of justice for everyone in the Central American region,” Sara concludes.