A/HRC/41/33/Add.1 36. The experts also received testimonies of women human rights defenders facing legal action for defamation and slander, as well as the threat thereof. Others have reported that their organizations are subjected to unreasonable tax supervision and registration requirements. The experts were also informed that women who were more vocal, or worked on contested issues such as the rights of sexual minorities or sexual and reproductive rights, were at risk of harsher treatment, including excessive use of force and even murder. Often, women human rights defenders do not have sufficient protection. Some women said that they had to pay for the food and transportation costs for the security officers, and other pointed to the issue of the protection system focusing on the main person at risk only, sometimes leaving family members at risk. While the experts learned from the representatives of the protection mechanism that they were committed to ensuring a gender perspective, more should be done to ensure that there truly is such a gender focus. 11 C. Economic and social life 37. The Working Group notes that the State has been making efforts to enhance women’s economic empowerment and social inclusion, such as through the creation of the “Better Life” programme and the adoption of the Act on the National Solidarity Loan Programme for Rural Women. The experts welcome the recent accession by Honduras to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, having observed first-hand how poverty and inequality affect the everyday lives of women around the country. While 34.5 per cent of households depend on the woman’s income, 12 women’s participation in economic life remains very low. The rate of participation by women in the paid labour force is 50.9 per cent, compared to 85.8 per cent by men.13 Some 75.5 per cent of women work in the informal sector, which often implies a considerably precarious situation and no protection. The unemployment rate among women is 10.7 per cent, against 5.1 per cent among men. 14 38. The feminization of poverty is of great concern to the Working Group: 44.4 per cent of households headed by women live in extreme poverty (against 41.9 per cent of those headed by men).15 Subemployment, unemployment and lack of access to land, credit and technology represent critical challenges for women, also preventing them from responding to their family needs. The organizations of peasant farmer women have documented that only 8 per cent of rural women possess land titles. Women’s organizations have attributed the lack of women’s access to credit, including agricultural financing, to high interest rates, the high deposits required, cumbersome procedures and discriminatory practices. 39. Limited access to land and credit severely restricts women’s economic prospects and autonomy. According to information received, women wishing to set up their own businesses are often precluded from doing so because of the need for capital, or because they are unable to meet the regulatory requirements (some women do not even have bank accounts). The patchwork of economic and community development programmes available has apparently variable outcomes. Some programmes are dismissed by women as politicized and thus not effective in improving the situation of women living in poverty; others appear to be inaccessible, even to the communities at which they are targeted. 40. The experts also received information about the problem of unpaid care work in Honduras, which represents a considerable additional burden, in particular for those who face heavy workdays. This situation is normalized by a lack of gender-sensitive education and is reinforced in the family, in social life and at work. It is crucial to adopt a process of education that is focused on a gender perspective. Alliances between women and men 11 12 13 14 15 See also A/HRC/40/60/Add.2. Honduras, “Programa presidencial Ciudad Mujer Honduras”, report, 2018. UNDP, “Human development indices and indicators: 2018 Statistical Update – briefing note for countries on the 2018 Statistical Update: Honduras”, July 2018. Available at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/HND.pdf. Honduran Private Enterprise Council, “Mujeres en la gestión empresarial en Honduras”, report, April 2018. Polétikah, “Feminización de la pobreza”. 9