In particular, we welcomed her campaign pledge to oppose the so-called “special economic development zones” in Honduras, which contribute to the poor working conditions, low wages, corruption, and violence that have forced many Honduran people to flee their homes. With support from fellow VHB members and staff, Sonia filed a denouncement with the Family Court soon after being chased out of her home by her husband. She joined a support group promoted by Project HOPE and facilitated by one of its partners, the Family Counsels of the Secretary of Public Health. She also participated in a course for legal promoters and other educational events on domestic violence.
- The remaining co-defendant, Juan Carlos Montes-Bobadilla, aka Mono, is still a fugitive in this case.
- This is exacerbated by the fact that judges, lawyers, and prosecutors are frequently targeted for assassination, with 19 percent of murdered judicial workers being women.
- Cáceres was violently murdered in her home in 2016 in retaliation for her activism.
- Combine this with a government unable to cope with a relentless tide of drug-related crime, Medina says, you get a culture where women are disposable.
- Amid a widespread culture of impunity, women public figures are killed in Honduras at an alarming rate.
Cases like these highlight the dangers that women-identifying activists face for their work in Honduras, where a culture of impunity threatens their ability to create positive change for themselves and their communities. However, Honduran activists did welcome some advances under the new administration, including the creation of a minister for women, the appointment of some feminists to important positions and more focus on gender issues, none of which would have happened under the previous regime. So there remains optimism that Castro still has time to live up to her promises. Fear is an ever-present reality of life for so many women here, yet the Honduran government fails to provide shelters or safe houses. While the name Maria Jose Alvarado has become a national symbol for a culture of rampant femicide, her mother and surviving sister say they are living in fear, terrified of retaliation from the killer.
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This is exacerbated by the fact that judges, lawyers, and prosecutors are frequently targeted for assassination, with 19 percent of murdered judicial workers being women. Honduras ranks towards the bottom on global measures of rule of law, and reports suggest a mere 24 percent of homicides are investigated in the country, of which only 13 percent reach any kind of judicial resolution.
Gender data gaps and country performance
Perhaps most dramatically, her government also oversaw the extradition of the country’s former corrupt leader, Juan Orlando Hernandez, to face trial in the United States for his alleged role in a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine. In late November of 2021, Xiomara Castro won election as the first female president of Honduras, ending 12 years of rule by the right-wing National Party and ushering in hope for change in a country beset by patriarchal violence, corruption, and poverty. One year after the historic election of Honduras’ first female president, there are signs of progress. Work With UsIf you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you.
Lack of education does not seem to be the cause for the gender gap in workforce participation.By 2016, 12 percent of young women (15-24 years old) had attained some tertiary education while only 10.8 percent of young men had. Also, a larger share of boys had not completed primary schooling (14.1 percent vs. 10.9 percent of girls). In its 2016 review of Honduras, the CEDAW Committee urged the government to decriminalize abortion, noting that the ban caused women and girls to seek unsafe abortions and increased maternal mortality. Gloria Carolina Hernández Vásquez, a well-known LGBTQI+ rights and HIV/AIDS advocate, was kidnapped and murdered in 2015. Last year two prominent trans activists, Melissa Núñez and Thalía Rodríguez, were also assassinated.
Their joint funeral was broadcast around the world and attended by thousands. “The only thing that I ask for is help to leave this country to have security in a place where my daughters can study, and I can move forward with my life with them,” said Marisela’s mother.
When Castro was elected with a clear popular https://gardeniaweddingcinema.com/latin-women/honduran-women/ mandate, she pledged to root out corruption and restore democratic governance in Honduras. Since then, she has taken several significant steps to make good on these commitments, including by repealing the country’s widely-criticized “secrets law” and resuming talks with the United Nations to establish an anti-corruption mechanism for the country.
According to Amnesty International, transgender women in Central America are at particularly high risk of violence and extortion by gangs and abuse by police. As a result https://jdstudio.com.au/ecuadorian-women/ of this study, UN Women will be organizing trainings for media outlets on objective and respectful journalism in these types of subjects.
According to court documents, from 2006 until 2015, Erlinda Ramos-Bobadilla, aka Herlinda Bobadilla or Chinda, 62, served as a leader in the Montes-Bobadilla drug-trafficking organization, or “Los Montes,” one of the largest drug cartels in Honduras. Los Montes was based in the town of Francia, in the Department of Colón, on the northeastern coast of Honduras. There, the organization received maritime and clandestine air shipments of cocaine from sources in South America.
