On October 18 and 19, a committee of foreign human rights experts will review Honduras’ progress in implementing the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a foreign treaty designed to protect women’s rights around the world. .
Prior to the review, Human Rights Watch submitted documentation to the committee on the terrible effect of blanket abortion and emergency birth control bans in Honduras, as well as on rampant discrimination and violence against women and girls, namely lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women (LBTs).
In June, Human Rights Watch also suggested that President Xiomara Castro end such abuses in a letter. In response, the government pledged to respect sexual and reproductive rights and investigations into violence against women.
The CEDAW review will provide President Castro’s administration with a qualified independent assessment of how it can best protect the rights of women and girls. The government uses the committee’s recommendations to expand concrete policies to defend those rights.
Violence against women is widespread in Honduras. Because abortion is illegal in all circumstances, and women who have experienced sexual violence may be forced to continue an unwanted pregnancy, perpetuating the cycle of violence women face.
In its 2016 review of Honduras, the CEDAW Committee suggested the government decriminalize abortion, noting that the ban encourages women to seek unsafe abortions and increases maternal mortality.
Endemic discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as impunity for such abuses, force many women and girls, especially LBT people, to leave their homes and move internally or seek asylum abroad. The Committee has stated in the past that displacement can further exacerbate violations of the rights of women and girls, and suggested that Honduras address the violence that motivates it.
As a candidate, President Castro ran on a promise to protect human rights. Your government deserves to live up to that commitment by making a strong commitment in the CEDAW review to protect the rights of Honduran women and women to physical fitness and a life free from violence and violence. discrimination. No one deserves to live in a hurry about their gender identity or sexual orientation.