Avelar is the co-founder of the first association of trans people in El Salvador, ASPIDH, and the founder of the organization on trans women with HIV, COMCAVIS TRANS, and she was a finalist of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2017. The Norwegian Human Rights Fund has supported the Martin Ennals Award since 2017.
Growing up in a poor and strongly catholic family, Karla experienced abuse and fled to the capital city of El Salvador when she was nine years old. She was exposed to different forms of violence and drug abuse while living in the streets of San Salvador, was forced to engage in sex work and continued experiencing an environment of constant sexual violence and death threats. Later she was severely injured by a serial killer who was an active officer of the armed forces, which resulted in a two-month coma.
Feil: Ukjent youtube URL:
In 1992, she became one of the first trans women in El Salvador to make her HIV positive status public for political reasons. As a human rights activist, she continued to face life threatening attacks and political persecution. She was sentenced for several years in prison where she faced ongoing rape and torture, without having the access to justice and medical treatment.
In 2013, Karla appeared before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) as the first trans woman and denounced the State of El Salvador for discrimination and hate crimes against LGBTQI+ persons. Until today, she demands legislative reforms to guarantee the human rights of LGBTIQ persons as well as the protection and the effective application of the law from the authorities.
“Nowadays I think I am a woman in every sense of the word. The profession that life gave me: To have a first-hand knowledge of the reality that allows me now to claim my rights in a more cautious way and allows me to make the state, the government understand that its irresponsibility or its lack of commitment is causing harm to many people.” Karla Avelar
Learn more about Karla's story here:
Feil: Ukjent youtube URL:
Photo: Martin Ennals Foundation.