Protecting girls, limiting girls: A violent reality in Honduras
Some children want the newest toys and games, a lifetime supply of sweets or the chance to meet their favorite celebrity. Yeimi, who lives in Honduras, just wants to go on a walk.
“My mother doesn’t let me go out because it’s too dangerous,” the 10-year-old says. “I have a little cousin who was raped, and the guy got out of prison quickly. And he’s back here in town now.”
Yeimi is one of millions of girls throughout Central America whose neighborhoods are rife with violence. Honduras — parts of which are controlled by gangs and steeped in drug-related crime — claims the second-highest adolescent murder rate in the world, which tells of a culture of brutality that permeates daily life. Children there regularly experience violence of all kinds, or at least the threat of it, in their homes, schools and communities. And in a culture of machismo that often normalizes men’s use of violence as an expression of power, girls are especially at risk. According to the United Nations, at least 27 percent of Honduran women face physical violence at some point in their lives. The real number is likely much higher, since about 95 percent of violent crimes against women and girls go unpunished.
But it’s not just the actual risk of violence that keeps girls down. Families’ overwhelming fear for their girls’ safety has a side effect: limiting their opportunities.
“If you ask boys, they will say that yes, they experience [violence],” says Mario Lima, ChildFund’s regional director for the Americas. “But they also have the ability to go out and play soccer in the streets. Girls are not allowed to go out.” Those kinds of restrictions prevent girls from having the learning experiences and making the social connections they might if they were in a safer environment. This translates to fewer opportunities for education and jobs later — and even leads to an increase in harmful cultural practices like child marriage. “The concern is that if a girl goes beyond a certain age, she won’t marry and therefore won’t have anyone to protect her,” says Lima. “Parents are trying to protect their kids.”
At ChildFund, we know that the solution to gender-based violence in most contexts is twofold: (1) Address the root causes of violent environments, and (2) empower girls. We worked in some of Honduras’ most dangerous neighborhoods to reduce violence in homes and schools. Our PUENTES project in urban areas of Honduras brought education on violence prevention to parents and teachers. The idea was that if adults could better prevent and cope with violence, the effect would trickle down to children. The project resulted in a 56 percent reduction in violent incidents at school as well as healthier interactions at home.
The second part of the formula is just as important. “We help parents understand that their fears are limiting the possibilities for their kids,” Lima says. “And we help girls have difficult conversations in their own interests.” When more girls know and demand their rights, they’ll be empowered to co-create a society that honors their worth as human beings.
Until then, girls like Yeimi will be expected to play inside.
“If I was queen of the neighborhood, I would tell all the bad people to leave and that good people are welcome to live here,” she says. “So there would be no abuse and no bad things, and so all the children could be free.”
