Browse Honduras Daily Stories

Honduras's Judiciary, along with civil-society groups, prosecutors, and police, has drafted reforms to the 1997 domestic violence law to address gaps, add protections for victims including recognition of vicarious and digital violence, and harmonize penalties for perpetrators.

Between August 12 and 15, a law student was shot dead in a San Pedro Sula law office, three women were killed in separate incidents across Comayagua, Valle, and Francisco Morazán within roughly 24 hours, and police in Olanchito arrested suspects linked to a massacre and other violent crimes.

Honduras's Criminal Investigation Directorate reported 118 arrests of suspects linked to murders of women through July 2026, the result of nationwide investigative operations and intelligence work.

A government lawyer filed a constitutional challenge to criminal-code reforms that stiffen penalties for femicide, arguing the changes create gender inequality and could lead to job losses and weapons-registry inclusion for the accused.

An investigation by Contracorriente found that Honduras, which has the highest femicide rate in Latin America, has secured just 46 convictions for femicide since the crime was codified in 2013, while 54% of cases that reached court remain unresolved, reflecting widespread impunity and state failure to prevent violence against women.

Honduras's national human-rights ombudsman cited an average of 29 violent deaths of women per month over 24 years and warned that legal penalties alone cannot stop gender violence without stronger investigations, prevention policies, and institutional safeguards for vulnerable women and girls.

More than 8,000 Honduran women have been murdered since 2005, with 139 cases recorded through June 2026, and the OV-UNAH warns crimes are growing more brutal, with patterns linked to organized crime.

Between January 2019 and mid-June 2026, Honduras recorded 2,904 homicides of women, averaging over 360 deaths per year, with Cortés and Francisco Morazán departments accounting for 37% of cases.

Police say the homicide rate fell to 11.74 per 100,000 in the first six months of 2026, with 103 municipalities reporting zero killings, though experts urge independent verification and note femicides remain high at around 135 cases.

At least three women were killed in recent days in Tegucigalpa, Comayagüela, and Olanchito; the Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras reports that over 130 women have been murdered so far this year, with impunity cited as a major barrier to justice in femicide cases.

The president of Honduras's Supreme Court says proposed reforms to combat femicide, including specialized courts with women judges, have judicial support but require state budget allocation that has not yet been secured.

A deported man was arrested after his wife was killed at a motel in an incident involving accusations of infidelity and a financial dispute over approximately 260,000 lempiras (about $10,400).

Official data from the Security Ministry shows 4,542 women were killed violently between 2014 and April 2026—roughly one per day—with intimate-partner violence, personal feuds, and organized crime among the primary causes.

Honduras police arrested more than 183 people in early 2026 on domestic violence reports, with authorities warning that untreated patterns of repetitive abuse can escalate to homicide or femicide.

Rights groups have recorded 108 femicides in Honduras through late May 2026, with activists noting more mutilated victims and a 95% impunity rate that leaves killers largely unpunished.

Honduras's Supreme Court has submitted its legal opinion to Congress on proposed reforms to three Penal Code articles governing femicide, including a proposal to create specialized judicial bodies to handle such cases.