On March 8, 2023, the Simone Veil Prize was awarded to a Salvadoran feminist association working to decriminalize the right to abortion.
The Simone Veil Prize was awarded to Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto (Citizen Collective for the Decriminalization of Abortion), which advocates for women’s right to access safe and legal abortion, a practice that remains entirely prohibited in El Salvador. This recognition comes at a critical time, as the country awaits a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that could prove decisive for the future of abortion rights there.
Founded in 2009 by a group of feminists following the release of a woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for homicide after an abortion, the collective campaigns against criminal convictions of women for obstetric emergencies. In El Salvador, women are often charged with homicide, carrying sentences of up to 50 years, even when the alleged offense is in fact abortion, for which the maximum sentence is eight years. Since the criminalization of abortion in 1998, the collective estimates that 195 women have been convicted.
Sophie Pouget, Executive Director of the RAJA-Danièle Marcovici Foundation and Chair of the 2023 Simone Veil Prize Jury, delivered a speech at the ceremony and presented the award alongside Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, to Morena Herrera, President of the collective.
Watch the full speeches here (activate subtitles).
