Information on the services available to women who are physically abused by their husbands [SLV14149]

The most detailed and updated information on the requested subject currently available to the DIRB has been provided by the Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization office (OPS/OMS) in El Salvador and is attached to this Response.

According to the attached document, the services listed below are available to women who are victims of domestic violence. According to the OPS/OMS, the services have started operating very recently and their reach is therefore limited:
1) Clinics for attending victims of sexual aggression: These clinics have been in service since 1990 in the three main hospitals of El Salvador (the Maternity Hospital of San Salvador, the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santa Ana and the Regional Hospital of San Miguel). The clinics are coordinated by the National Family Secretariat (Secretaría Nacional de la Familia), the MSPAS [meaning not given] and the Department of Legal Medicine, with support from the OPS. The clinics provide medical and psychological assistance and initiate the legal proceedings by "clarifying the proof of a crime" ("mejoramiento de la prueba del delito" in the original Spanish text). Information on the cases dealt with by the clinics is available through the OPS/OMS office in San Salvador.
2) Woman and Child Protection Department of the Attorney General of the Republic (Departamento de Protección del Niño y la Mujer de la Fiscalía General de la República): Created in December 1992, the department provides legal assistance to women and children who are victims of sexual aggression and moral and physical mistreatment. The department is located in San Salvador, and information on the cases it has dealt with is available through the OPS/OMS office or directly from the department (address provided in the attached document).
3) Adjunct Attorney of Women's Human Rights (Procuraduría Adjunta de los Derechos Humanos de la Mujer): The Adjunct Attorney operates from the office of the Attorney for Human Rights, receiving and investigating complaints of violations of the human rights of women.
4) National Coordinator of the Salvadoran Woman (Coordinadora Nacional de la Mujer Salvadoreña, CONAMUS): This is a non-government organization that provides medical, psychological and legal assistance and temporary shelter to abused women. CONAMUS is located in San Salvador.

The OPS/OMS office in El Salvador reports that the current legislation does not qualify domestic abuse as a crime ("delito" in the Spanish text) (OPS/OMS 18 May 1993, 5). The source also states that there are legal loopholes ("vacíos legales") in the prosecution of rape cases (Ibid.). The OPS/OMS office has offered to provide, upon further request and if needed, detailed information on the proposed legislative changes to the Family Code Project (Proyecto de Código de Familia) and the Draft Project of the Penal Code (Anteproyecto de Código Penal) presented to the Legislation Review Commission (Comisión de Revisión de la Legislación).

Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.

Reference


Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization (OPS/OMS), San Salvador. 18 May 1993. Fax received by DIRB.

Attachment

Panamerican Health Organization/World Health Organization (OPS/OMS), San Salvador. 18 May 1993. Fax received by DIRB, pp. 3-5.