Honduras Advances Reproductive Rights. The Emergency Contraceptive Pill (PAE) will allow care for victims of sexual violence, says CONADEH.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras (03.10.2023).- The National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH) considers that the repeal of the absolute prohibition of the promotion, use and commercialization of the Emergency Contraceptive Pill (PAE), is a great step for the effective application of attention to victims and survivors of sexual violence in Honduras.
The head of CONADEH, Blanca Izaguirre, stated:
“It has been a struggle for the country’s women to gain the respect for their sexual and reproductive rights in which CONADEH, since 2009, when the absolute prohibition was established, has been providing their support.”
In this sense, Izaguirre considered that it is a great step for an effective application of the Protocol of Comprehensive Care for Victims and Survivors of Sexual Violence, recently approved.
Statistics of Victims of Sexual Violence
A recent report establishes that, only in 2021, Forensic Medicine issued 2,089 clinical opinions of sexual violence against women.
Five departments of Honduras were the scene of 58% of the cases of sexual violence, 371 in Cortés, 336 in Francisco Morazán, 180 in Atlántida, 169 in Olancho and 159 in Yoro.
It is estimated that 57% of cases of sexual violence against women occur inside the room of the victim or the aggressor. In a smaller percentage, the attacks occur on the street or in public places.
In 53% of the cases, the main victims are girls and young people between the ages of 10 and 19, 13% are women between the ages of 20 and 29, and 12% are girls under 10 years of age.
Hoy, #8M conmemoramos lucha histórica de la mujer, firmando con secretario @DrMatheu144 el Acuerdo Ejecutivo para libre uso y comercialización de la PAE. La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) determinó que es parte de los derechos reproductivos de la mujer y no es abortiva. pic.twitter.com/ELQPTzhfd5
— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) March 9, 2023
UN Agencies Celebrate the Approval of PAE
Several UN agencies celebrated last March the approval of an executive decree that allows the free use and commercialization of the Emergency Contraceptive Pill (PAE) in Honduras as a measure to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health for women as reported by Swiss Info.
“We welcome the Government’s decision to approve the Emergency Contraceptive Pill (PAE) as a step forward towards full assurance of human rights and access to sexual and reproductive health for women in Honduras,” indicated the United Nations in a message on the social network Twitter.
The Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, signed last March the executive agreement that allows the “free use and commercialization of PAE” in the country.
Comprehensive Education Law
The UN has also celebrated the approval in Honduras of the Comprehensive Education Law to prevent Adolescent Pregnancies, which will allow “ensuring universal access to information on sexual and reproductive health,” as reported in EFE Feminista.
The Honduran Parliament approved on March 8 the comprehensive education law to prevent adolescent pregnancies in the Central American country, where 1 in 4 births is to a girl under 19 years of age.
The regulation, presented by one of the vice presidents of the Honduran Parliament, Scherly Arriaga, “seeks to build sex education curricula appropriate to the age of the students to prevent adolescent pregnancies.”
The law seeks to promote and guarantee “the teaching of comprehensive education for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy based on a rights-based approach” in all modalities of the public and private educational system.
The regulation also aims to ensure the inclusion of comprehensive education for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy in the national curricular framework that promotes the comprehensive training of girls and boys, and the empowerment and responsibility of adolescents.
Dr. Soledad Quartucci | Founder
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