> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Report finds El Salvador unsafe for LGBTQ+ people
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/report-finds-el-salvador-unsafe-for-lgbtq-people/
- Published: 2021-01-11T14:14:10.000Z
- Updated: 2021-01-11T10:10:21.000Z
- Description: A new report from the Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-governmental organisation advocating for equality, found El Salvador, Central America, lacks fundamental protections for LGBTQ+ citizens.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, El Salvador, Human Rights Watch, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ equality, LGBTQ+ rights, South America, US

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/lgbt-pride-el-salvador-1.jpg)

A new [report](https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/08/no-safe-haven-lgbt-people-el-salvador?ref=scenemag.co.uk) from the **Human Rights Watch (HRW)**, a non-governmental organisation advocating for equality, found **El Salvador, Central America**, lacks fundamental protections for LGBTQ+ citizens and asylum seekers. The report found the country’s own government acknowledged that LGBTQ+ citizens face *“torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, excessive use of force, illegal and arbitrary arrests and other forms of abuse, much of it committed by public security agents.”* President **Nayib Bukele** also opposes marriage equality and refused to support legal gender recognition for trans people. Bukele’s actions, combined with widespread violence and discrimination has caused many LGBTQ+ citizens to flee the country.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/el-salvador-president-1.jpg)

Anti-LGBTQ+ president Nayib Bukele

The report found that between January 2007 and November 2017, over 1,200 Salvadorans sought asylum in the **US** due to fear of persecution for their sexual orientation or gender identity. The two countries currently maintain an ‘Asylum Cooperative Agreement’, which allows US immigration authorities to transfer non-Salvadoran asylum seekers to El Salvador, instead of allowing them to seek asylum in the US. However, the HRW dubbed this a *“deeply flawed deal”* on the basis it *“presupposes El Salvador can provide a full and fair asylum procedure and protect refugees”*, when it does not protect LGBTQ+ citizens.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/el-salvador-1.jpg)

A Pride parade in El Salvador

The HRW urged the El Salvador’s government to address the issue: *“The Salvadoran government should back a gender identity law and comprehensive civil non-discrimination legislation, prosecute anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, and reestablish a well-resourced office to promote inclusion and eradicate anti-LGBTQ+ violence.”* It also argued the Asylum Cooperative Agreement should be axed, saying: *“El Salvador fails to provide effective protection to its own LGBTQ+ citizens, let alone LGBTQ+ people fleeing persecution elsewhere.”*