Latin America | Honduras | Crimes

Outrageous: Berta Cáceres, Honduran human rights and environment activist, murdered

Berta Cáceres, the Honduran indigenous and environmental rights campaigner, has been murdered, barely a week after she was threatened for opposing a hydroelectric project. Her death prompted international outrage at the murderous treatment of campaigners in Honduras, as well as a flood of tributes to a prominent and courageous defender of the natural world. The co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras (Copinh) was shot dead by gunmen who entered her home in La Esperanza at around 1am on Thursday. Some reports say there were two killers; others suggest 11. They escaped

Latin America | Honduras | Crimes

Femicides in Honduras Reach Epidemic Levels

Source: Telesur TV

A women's association warned Wednesday that murders of women in the Central American country had now hit epidemic levels. Femicides in Honduras have far surpassed epidemic levels, with 12 of every 100,000 residents dying from gender-based violence, said the local women’s rights center after a new study. According to the World Health Organization, 8.8 deaths per 100,000 residents is enough to be categorized as an epidemic. Reports of such crimes have skyrocketed in recent years, with a 263 percent rise between 2005 and 2013. In 2013, one woman was murdered every 14 hours – 636 in tota

Latin America | Honduras | Activism

Honduran women refuse to be silenced in face of yet another setback

Source: theguardian

Gladys Lanza, a Honduran feminist activist, was recently convicted of defamation for defending a woman who accused a Honduran government official of sexual harassment. The verdict is aimed at sending a powerful message to all defenders of women’s rights in the country: “If you don’t want to be prosecuted, stay silent.” In Honduras, violent deaths among women increased by 263.4% from 2005 to 2013. In 2009, the year of the coup d’état, femicide rose by 62%, while in 2013, a woman was murdered somewhere in the country every 15 hours. Between 2012 and 2013, 525 cases of harassment ag