El Salvador's gang violence, poverty, and exploitation has led to the displacement of 175,000 people, many of them women. As Carlos Hernandez, Executive Director of Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ), points out, "Some studies reveal that a huge reason why women have to leave El Salvador is mainly because of the violence in a chauvinist and patriarchal society."*
Alight works to provide women with the education and tools they need to protect themselves without being forced to leave the places they call home. Our prevention approach is centered on establishing and strengthening community-based activism for gender-based violence prevention.
In the Mejicanos municipality of El Salvador, women constantly face sexual harassment on public transportation. These women rely on public transport to go about their daily lives as caregivers, housewives, and workers, but overcrowding and the high number of men on buses make their everyday commutes a source of fear and discomfort. And unfortunately, sexual harassment is still a taboo subject among Salvadorans.
With the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Alight brought together 36 women from Mejicanos to co-create strategies to address this challenge. Me Protejo, Te Protejo ("I Protect Myself, I Protect You") aimed to transform these women into agents of change, promoting safety and respect in their communities.
