IACHR Concludes Virtual Working Visit to Honduras Regarding Violence and Discrimination Against Women and Girls

May 21, 2021

Washington, D.C. — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) conducted a working visit to Honduras through a delegation led by Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur on the Rights of Women and the Rights of People of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination, and Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, Rapporteur on the Rights of Children. The visit took place from May 11 to 13, 2021, and was conducted online due to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 health emergency.

The objective of the working visit was to promote inter-American standards when addressing violence and discrimination against women and girls, and to collaborate with the State of Honduras on the implementation of recommendations issued by the IACHR in the thematic report entitled Violence and Discrimination Against Women and Girls, which was published in 2019 as part of the project that the IACHR is implementing on this issue with valuable support from the Government of Canada.

As part of the visit, the IACHR held meetings with high-level State authorities whose main focus is the rights of women and girls. These included the Ministry of Human Rights (SEDH), the National Women's Institute (INAM), the Women's City Program (CM), the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion (SEDIS), the Department of Children, Adolescents and the Family (DINAF), the Ministry of Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (SRECI), the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, as well as representatives from the judiciary and the legislative branch of government. It also met with international organizations that work in the country and representatives of civil society organizations.

The IACHR wishes to thank the Honduran government for its invitation and the assistance support it provided with the logistics of this working visit. In particular, the IACHR is grateful for the support it received from the Ministry of Human Rights in coordinating and facilitating the meetings that were held with various State institutions. The IACHR also wishes to thank international organizations and civil society organizations for their support for the mission and the information they shared with the delegation.

The IACHR wishes to draw attention to the fruitful exchange of information on the progress that has been made at the highest level on implementing the applicable inter-American standards and principles concerning the protection of the rights of women and girls in Honduras, as well as on the challenges that remain in this area. The IACHR also wishes to note how committed Honduras is to prioritizing this issue and increasing the effectiveness of State responses and resources for preventing, eradicating, and punishing gender-based violence and discrimination.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate derives from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR is composed of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 133/21