The Rise of Women’s Movements in Central America: Denouncing Human Rights Violations in El Salvador, 1979–92

This paper documents the emergence of various women's movements during El Salvador’s Civil War. El Salvador’s twelve-year civil war (1979-1992) left more than 80,000 people dead and almost 7,000 missing. Over half of El Salvador’s population was forced to flee the country in search of refuge. At the heart of the conflict were two militant forces: the right-wing Salvadoran military government forces and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), an umbrella organization of existing left-wing rebel and guerrilla groups. Women played a vital role in the Civil War by serving as leaders of various social movement groups, including the Comité de Madres y Familiares de Detenidos, Desaparecidos y Asesinados Políticos de El Salvador, Monseñor Romero (CO-MADRES), the Mujeres por la Dignidad y la Vida (DIGNAS), and the labor union association known as the Women’s Committee of FENASTRAS (CO-FENASTRAS). The CO-MADRES differs from the others as historically it did not align with the FMLN or the ruling government, as DIGNAS and CO-FENASTRAS did. At the time, almost all organizations were affiliated with a political party and/or ideology. This presentation documents how the CO-MADRES shaped women’s activism during and after the Civil War period. By denouncing human rights violations at home and exposing the consequences of state violence to the global community, the CO-MADRES placed affect and the personal at the center of their activism, foregrounding the dire consequences of capitalist exploitation and its attendant systemic violence against labor organizers and dissidents. Coming from various class backgrounds, the women of the CO-MADRES showed the possibilities of building solidarity for a common cause. Unbound by social expectations, working-class feminist leaders articulated their vision of liberation for El Salvador and women in the world.