There’s substantial impunity surrounding these cases. Only 35 percent of violent death cases investigated by the Attorney General’s Office made it to the Supreme Court between 2010 and 2019. Many investigations don’t make it past the Attorney General’s Office, an institution that has not prioritized this emergency.

There are failures in the system, and the erroneous classification of crimes is one of the most serious issues. Although Article 208 of the Penal Code defines aggravated femicide as murder committed against a woman by a “partner or former partner,” between January 2015 and August 2023, the Attorney General’s Office registered 21 cases of parricide—of the total 100 cases that took place during that period—in which the suspects had a relationship with the victims at some point.

The justice system, which is obliged to protect women, attacks them. In Honduras, women have been unfairly prosecuted for abortion after suffering obstetric emergencies following medical malpractices in the health care system. Due to inconclusive evidence and gender stereotypes, women are forced to go through a long, exhausting judicial process in which they relive their traumatizing experiences. The Attorney General’s Office is usually the least supportive institution.