Violence against women is a significant issue in El Salvador, affecting up to two-thirds of Salvadoran women and girls. The USAID-funded LibrES program, led by ASU in partnership with local organizations, universities and private sector entities, leverages individual and systemic approaches to contribute safer and more productive lives for women in El Salvador, thus decreasing the likelihood of irregular migration to the United States.

 LibrES focuses on violence prevention, protection of survivors of violence, and prosecution and accountability for perpetrators of violence by engaging in the following activities.

Violence prevention:

• Enhance security in public spaces and transportation and strengthen safe spaces for survivors of violence
• Development of educational and capacity-building initiatives to change public perceptions and promote prevention

Protection of victims:

• Creation of systems and services to aid recovery
• Engage communities to support victims
• Establish legal clinics, strengthen community support for survivors and support livelihoods for victims.

Prosecution and accountability of offenders:

• Strengthen the Salvadoran legal structure through litigator training, law education and survivor assistance networks

LibrES also strengthens the capacity of its local partners in financial, project and grant management capacity so they will be able to implement other donor-funded projects in the future — and in turn, support capacity strengthening for other local organizations. Additionally, LibrES is helping to install enduring capacity for research at universities to support violence prevention and response efforts in collaboration with local organizations and contribute to a safer, more prosperous El Salvador. Overall, these project objectives contribute to an increased sense of security in Salvadoran communities, thus reducing the push factors that drive irregular migration to the United States.