Honduras: Joint Submission to the Child Rights Committee at the 97th Pre-Sessional Working Group

Submission to the UN Committee on Child Rights by Centro de Derechos de Mujeres and Human Rights Watch,
Honduran evaluation

Working Group for the 97th Pre-Sessional

2023 November

We write in advance of the Working Group for the 97th Pre-Sessional Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and its review of Honduras to highlight areas of concern regarding the government of Honduras’ compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This submission addresses articles 3, 6, 24, 28 and 29 of the Convention and covers access to abortion and emergency contraceptives, and access to education.

Access to abortion and emergency contraception (articles 3, 6, 24, and 29 )

In Honduras, abortion is still prohibited in all situations, including when the girl’s life or the life of the female person is in danger and the pregnancy is the result of sexual violence. Abortion patients, including expectant women and girls, as well as those who perform them, can spend up to six years in jail. Congress passed a constitutional amendment in January 2021, complicating potential reform by increasing the bulk required to update the ban on abortion from two-thirds to three-quarters. The recently appointed Supreme Court justices upheld a previous decision that rejected the claim that the restrictions is illegal in March 2023. [1 ]]

In a nation where abortion is outright prohibited, President Xiomara Castro signed an executive order on March 8, 2023, lifting the government’s restrictions on the use and sale of disaster prevention. ]2 ] The “morning- after pill,” or emergency contraceptives, is used to stop conception.

A law mandating comprehensive sexual education to aid in preventing adolescent births was also approved by Congress on March8. President Castro vetoed the law in response to opposition from traditional parties. [4 ]]

Between 2015 and 2019, 56 % of babies in Honduras were unexpected. ]5 ] Rape can result in unintended pregnancies. According to a report by The Observatory of Women’s Human Rights, lawyers received 2, 944 accounts of sexual assault against women and girls in 2022. According to this information, girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are most affected, accounting for 64 % of sexual assault cases. [7 ]]

There were 2, 359 cases of medical-legal analyses for reviews of sexual abuse between January and December 2022, or an average of 197 circumstances per month. ]8 ] Of the cases, women and girls made up 90 % (2, 122 ) of them. Notably, 65.9 % of the victims were between the age of 10 and 19. Also, 57.5 percent of sexual assault survivors were between the age of 5 and 14.

Any physical activity involving children under the age of 15 is regarded as abuse under Honduran law, and in the majority of cases, the culprits are older people, especially close friends or acquaintances of the survivors. Some girls become pregnant against their will as a result of this type of violence. Data from the Ministry of Health indicate that between 2018 and 2022, there were 4, 495 birth among girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and 123, as well as 115 deliveries among those aged 15 to 19. ]10] In 2022 only, 1, 061 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 experienced sexual assault and gave birth. This explains 4.5 percent of all babies among teenagers.

According to studies conducted by Human Rights Watch, criminalizing pregnancy not only makes it harder for women and girls to access crucial reproductive health services, but it also makes prejudice and inequalities worse. [12] ]

Human Rights Watch advises the Committee to consult the Honduran state:

• What steps are being taken to stop and deal with unwanted babies, especially for female sexual assault survivors?
• What steps are being taken to legalize abortion and make sure that the wellness program is ready to offer comprehensive treatment, including protected abortion care without bias, shame, or revictimization?
• What steps are being taken to guarantee that kids have access to a full sexual training program?
• What steps are being taken to guarantee that everyone in Honduras has access to emergency contraceptives, no just sexual assault survivors?
• How does Honduras ensure that kids have access to thorough sexual and reproductive health knowledge?

The Committee should contact the Honduran state, according to Human Rights Watch:

• By eliminating all criminal penalties for abortion from the penal code, legalize contraception as a matter of necessity.
• By making sure health professionals are qualified to provide sympathetic and non-stigmatizing care, we can improve medical services for women and girls who have experienced sexual violence.
• Apply a required, all-inclusive sexuality education curriculum that is age-appropriate, medically appropriate, and compliant with global standards in primary and secondary schools.

Article 28 of Access to Education for LGBT Kids

In Honduras, there is a lot of discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT ) people. Human Rights Watch published a report in 2020 detailing crimes against Honduran LGBT individuals. [13]

Human Rights Watch received reports from respondents who claimed to have faced harassment and discrimination in the classroom. This was particularly true for people who were obviously non-conforming with their identity. They talked about being singled out by classmates, educators, and officials. Some claimed that as a result, they felt compelled to drop out of school, which reduced their chances in life and set them up for increased financial instability, especially those who were forced to leave their homes because they lacked family support.

Anabel H., a transgender girl from Tegucigalpa, claimed that abuse caused her to stop going to school halfway through each month starting at age 10. She claimed that while she was in high school, her classmates threw water bottles at her and threatened to murder her. She was told to behave like a boy if she did n’t want to be bothered when she complained to the school director. 14] ]

The Committee should contact the Honduran state, according to Human Rights Watch:

• Pass complete legal non-discrimination policy that covers areas like, among others, education, career, health, and housing and expressly includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
• Adopt an anti-discrimination plan that forbids schools from treating students unfairly based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex expression.
• Make sure that acceptance of sexual and gender diversity is emphasized in all courses, including comprehensive sexuality education courses.
• Adopt an anti-bullying plan that mandates that all schools take action to stop bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and female expression.
• Build services for young people—including children and young adults—who are ejected from their homes due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, such as housing, counseling, education, and career training.