A/HRC/41/33/Add.1
victims complained of insufficient coordination between the relevant authorities. Concern
was also expressed about changes in the rotation of judges.
60.
The experts are concerned at the low number of shelters, of which there are only
four in the whole country (see A/HRC/WG.6/22/HND/1), and their lack of resources as
observed during the visit. One of the shelters was actually closed during the visit due to
inability to pay rent. The Working Group urges the Government to finance the shelters and
services for victims and provide support to women who leave the shelters, as they often
have nowhere to go.
B.
Women experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination
61.
There is lack of data on women experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination.
Moreover, there is a lack of targeted policies and laws, and research on the needs of these
women. During the visit, the experts met with the representatives of indigenous, Garífuna
and Afro-Honduran women, peasant farmers and rural women, transgender women, women
engaged in sex work/prostitution and women living with HIV. They also visited women’s
prison in Tegucigalpa. All these women recounted stories of discrimination,
marginalization and exclusion. Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex women
and women engaged in sex work/prostitution have been particularly vulnerable to violence,
and transgender women, women engaged in sex work/prostitution and women living with
HIV complained in particular of obstacles to accessing quality health services. The experts
have tried to reflect these concerns throughout the report, and the focus in this section is on
indigenous, Garífuna and Afro-Honduran women, rural women and incarcerated women.
1.
Indigenous, Garífuna, Afro-Honduran and rural women
62.
Despite the constitutional guarantee to preserve native cultures, the historic
exclusion of indigenous, Garífuna and Afro-Honduran people underlies the current
violations of their human rights, including their precarious socioeconomic situation,
privatization of their lands, militarization of their territories, repression of their leaders and
violence in isolated areas. For women, this is exacerbated by gender-based discrimination
in society at large and within their own communities. They have less access to decent work,
land ownership, credit, housing, education and health. However, there is no data
disaggregated by ethnicity,36 which would provide the basis for targeted policies addressing
the needs of these communities, and specifically women.
63.
The main challenges that these women face are access to and control of land: they
constitute only 4 per cent of beneficiaries of a 30-year agrarian reform process and 22 per
cent of beneficiaries of the land title programme (A/HRC/37/3/Add.2, para. 10). They
struggle with the lack of guarantee of economic and social rights, including in the context
of development projects, and high rates of poverty. Rural women and women belonging to
indigenous and communities of African descent have routinely recounted their frustration at
the absence or inadequacy of consultations by the Government before undertaking largescale development projects, granting concessions to international corporations or
developing laws and policies that affect them, such as the bill on patenting Lenca designs.
Their land, livelihoods and traditional way of life remain under acute threat by these
activities, which often result in the displacement of the Garífuna and indigenous
populations as well as denial of access to natural resources.
2.
Incarcerated women
64.
In 2018, the number of incarcerated adults reached 20,583, including 1,240 women.
Overall detention rates increased by 8.33 per cent, while for women the rate increased by
17.31 per cent. While pretrial detention decreased overall, it increased among the female
population, from 63 to 68 per cent (A/HRC/40/3/Add.2). According to information received,
there has been an increase in the number of charges brought against women for crimes that
36
There are nine recognized ethnic minorities in Honduras: seven indigenous groups and two groups of
African descent.
15
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