UN Women Demands Sanctioning Gender-based Violence in Honduras

The UN Women representative in Honduras, Margarita Bueso, demanded national laws establishing gender-based political violence against women as a crime.

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Women's Political Observatory reported 19 attacks on female candidates for public elected posts between September and November this year.

 "There are no channels for legalizing and sanctioning this type of violence,"  Bueso warned.

She highlighted the need to "make a special law" that allows sanctioning political parties or people who exercise violence against women to avoid their implication in politics.

A study by the Women's Political Observatory indicates that 47.3 percent of the reported cases correspond to female candidates for lawmakers posts and 36.8 percent in the case of local offices.

The main manifestations of political violence suffered by women in this Central American Nation are violence through social networks, smear campaigns, physical aggressions, and sexual harassment, among others.

On Nov. 6, the Electoral Council (CNE)  presented a protocol against Political Gender Violence and asked the Parliament to approve a reform to prevent and punish crimes suffered by women in political activity.