A/HRC/41/33/Add.1 provided by the Ministry of Health, in 2017 approximately 15,000 women were hospitalized with a diagnosis of abortion. However, some women’s organizations have documented a much higher number: since only one in six women seek medical attention, the number of unsafe abortions could be between 51,000 and 82,000 per year. 31 52. Further, the criminalization of abortion and the obligation of medical professionals to report cases of women whose injuries appear related to unsafe abortions have led to women being incarcerated. These denunciations by medical professionals may dissuade women suffering from a miscarriage or complications from abortion to seek the necessary medical attention, thereby putting their lives in danger. The Working Group regrets that recent efforts to amend the Criminal Code with a view to decriminalizing abortion have failed, and recalls that criminalizing women for abortion is against international human rights standards. The Working Group reiterates that criminalizing the termination of pregnancy is one of the most damaging ways of instrumentalizing and politicizing women’s bodies and lives, subjecting them to risks to their lives or health and depriving them of autonomy in decision-making. The Working Group also regrets the detrimental influence of religious lobbies on matters of public health and that there is no political will to review the national legislation on abortion and emergency contraception to bring it into line with international standards (see A/HRC/32/44). IV. Gender-based violence against women and women experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination A. Gender-based violence against women 53. During the visit, the experts were informed that violence against women is rampant in the country, fuelled by inequality, insecurity and impunity, and the lack of socioeconomic opportunities. A permissive regulation on the possession of firearms also contribute to the problem: in 2017, 62 per cent of femicides were committed with the use of firearms.32 The forms of violence include exploitation, psychological, physical and sexual violence, trafficking and femicide, as well as legally unregulated cyberviolence (e.g., cyberharassment and publication of intimate images without consent, including of public and political personalities). The perpetrators include partners and family and community members, as well as other private actors and State agents. Certain groups of women are particularly vulnerable, such as women human rights defenders, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex women, women engaged in sex work/prostitution, and young girls. According to the interlocutors met, there has been a rise in the brutality of violence, as well as the number of cases of disappearance of women. Violence has been one of the root causes of migration by women. 54. Domestic and sexual violence are among the most reported crimes in the country, and the rate of femicide is very high. According to data from the Monitoring Centre on Violence, 5,347 women were murdered between 2005 and 2017. 33 While between 2014 and 2017 there were 1,944 registered cases of femicide, only 33 were tried in that period. The conviction rate has been very low.34 Indeed, according to the interlocutors met, 95 per cent of femicides go unpunished. Moreover, the interlocutors were concerned at the fact that 31 32 33 34 Women’s Human Rights Centre, “Observatorio de derechos humanos de las mujeres”, September 2015. Available from http://derechosdelamujer.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Secreto-a-voces-unaresena-sobre-el-aborto-en-Honduras.pdf. National Autonomous University of Honduras, “Boletín especial sobre muerte violenta de mujeres”, March 2018. National Autonomous University of Honduras, “Observatorio de muertes violentas de mujeres y femicidios: resultados del análisis enero–diciembre 2017”, January–December 2017. According to the annual report of the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights of 2017, 19 cases of femicide were presented before the courts, out of which 4 ended with a conviction, 1 was provisionally dismissed and 7 are being tried (see http://app.conadeh.hn/descargas/INFORME%20ANUAL%20COMPLETO%202017.pdf). 13