A court in El Salvador has sentenced a 39-year-old man to life in prison for aggravated femicide, according to a statement from the country’s prosecutor’s office. Authorities said the ruling is the first life sentence for femicide in El Salvador’s history.
The defendant was convicted of stabbing his neighbor to death in Santa Ana, in western El Salvador, in August. Prosecutors said he had repeatedly harassed the woman before the attack. The prosecutor’s office announced that it secured the sentence 42 days after the killing.
The conviction follows reforms approved by El Salvador’s legislature in April. Those changes allow life imprisonment for severe crimes including homicide, rape, femicide and terrorism. Before the reforms, the maximum prison term was 60 years, with possible reductions for good behavior.
The changes form part of President Nayib Bukele’s broader security strategy. His government says its crackdown on gangs has sharply reduced crime and homicide rates, but the campaign has also led to the imprisonment of more than 90,000 people. The source report said United Nations experts and nongovernmental organizations have raised concerns about alleged human rights violations, including possible crimes against humanity.
Bukele’s government inaugurated the Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT, in 2023. Human rights organizations have widely criticized the mega-prison, according to the source report.
El Salvador has historically recorded high levels of femicide. The report said the rate often exceeded 12 killings per 100,000 women during the 2010s, and that more than 500 women were killed in 2016 alone. Feminist organizations have also said COVID-19 lockdowns increased exposure to domestic violence and restricted access to support services.