Honduras commits to preventing and ending violence against women

Tegucigalpa, 23 Mar Honduras committed this Wednesday to prevent and end violence against women and girls in the country, where 318 were killed in 2021, a phenomenon that has become “naturalized” due to machismo and patriarchy, and that requires more political will. The commitment was reflected in a public document signed in Tegucigalpa by the President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, and the United Nations resident coordinator in the country, Alice Shackelford. “As a woman, I cannot be in the presidency if I do not fight for the respect and defense of women's rights in my country,” emphasized Castro, the first woman president of Honduras, after stamping her rubric on the compromise. She stated that her government has “that commitment to provide not only immediate responses, but also to achieve gender equity” in Honduras, where violent deaths of women continue to rise after 318 cases were reported in 2021, according to data from the NGO Center for Women's Rights (CDM). The Honduran president said that in order to reduce the violent deaths of women in her country “it is not enough to combat the causes that produce violence, but it is also necessary to act in harmony and coordination with all sectors.” “Punishment is not enough, but we have to prevent with education,” stressed Castro, who indicated that the struggle of his Administration is “against femicide.” President Castro said she was “committed to the process of refounding Honduras,” adding: “I know that all the effort, dedication, conviction is required; we believe that with these principles that we promote from the Government, we can break the chains of exclusion, discrimination and violence that bind us to poverty and inequality.” DEFEND WOMEN'S RIGHTS The Honduran government committed to the UN to “defending the rights of women and girls and combating the violence they suffer” and “constitute a violation of human rights,” according to the document. In Honduras “there are strong inequality gaps in various fields and the various forms of violence against women and girls continue to manifest themselves, based on tolerance, normalization and social and cultural justification that emerge permanently showing their seriousness through the numbers of victims,” he adds. The UN representative in Honduras said that sustainable development “will not be achieved without gender equality and the elimination of violence against women and girls, it is a clear and powerful message.” Shackelford said that the death of women “not only has an impact on the emotional and personal rights level, it also has a direct impact on the economic, social and political development of a country.” She advocated a “clear, political state response” to gender-based violence, and acknowledged “the strong commitment” of the Honduran president to combat this scourge. LACK OF POLITICAL WILL For her part, the representative of UN Women in Honduras, Margarita Bueso, told Efe that violence against women must “draw the attention of the authorities strongly”, in order to be able to take “preventive measures and know what to do” in the face of the wave of femicide. Bueso made a “strong call” to Honduran society to become “vigilant” and “take care of women”, to ensure that these cases of violence “do not recur.” He pointed out that it is essential that those who suffer sexist violence take the step of denouncing it, so that there is “due process” in these cases. For Bueso, it is necessary to promote measures that guarantee “equity” between men and women in Honduras, a country where, according to the NGO CDM, every three hours a woman is a victim of sexual abuse, but only one in six reports. “It is extremely worrying, it seems that we are naturalizing violence against women and that cannot be, we are in a highly patriarchal and macho environment, in which there is a distortion and many times some men believe that they own women's bodies,” he emphasized. The UN Women expert said that Honduras “lacks a little political will” to end gender-based violence.