The 1992 census is the most recent source of data concerning disability. That census reported only 81,721 people with disabilities, less than 1.3% of the total population of 6,048,257.3 Leaders of disability organizations do not find this figure valid, and a recent statement by Jorge Isidoro Nieto, the Minster of Labor, suggests that it is also not widely accepted by government officials.4
Other estimates of the disability population include the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO) estimate that people with disabilities on average
account for 10% of the region's population. Additionally, organizations of people
whose disabilities were caused by El Salvador's civil war estimate that people
with disabilities account for 13% of the population.
Legislation & Disability Rights
Legal Protections
El Salvador's legal and regulatory framework comprises a variety of protections for people with disabilities. These protections include: the Constitution, the Equal Opportunities Law, a policy on Equal Opportunities, the implementing guidelines for regulations, and the Technical Guidelines for Urban, Architectural, Transportation and Communications Accessibility.
The Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador states that all individuals are equal before the law and enjoy the same rights regardless of race, gender or religion.5 People with disabilities have the right to migrate and/or seek asylum, to form associations, and, with the exception of people with intellectual disabilities, they have the right to adopt children. Families with children with disabilities have the right to keep and raise their children.
The Equal Opportunities Law also establishes that the rights of people with disabilities be respected and the principle of equal opportunity be implemented. It applies to governmental actors (governmental agencies, the military, etc.), individuals, and businesses and corporations.
The gap between the legally-defined protections and the reality of the
every-day life of people with disabilities in the country remains substantial. In
some cases, there have also been steps backward regarding legal protections.
For example, the pensions of people whose disabilities resulted from armed
conflicts have been canceled or diminished because some of these people are
considered "to be rehabilitated."6
3. General Bureau of Statistics and Censuses, Population Census, 1992.
4. Jorge Isidoro Nieto, "Discapacitados serán atendidos" [The Disabled will receive Attention] El Diario de Hoy, (22 October 2003).
5. Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador, http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/Constitutions/ ElSal/ElSal83.html.
6. Jesus Avalos (member of the Association of War Veterans of El Salvador (ALGES)), interviewed by author, (18 January, 2004).