Poverty reduction, political violence and women’s rights in Honduras

This article draws on the work of the project ‘Challenging violence against women; identifying the links between poverty reduction and promoting women’s rights’. Using first-hand data and the experiences of women in the project, the article aims to offer an analysis of the influence of progressive social protection policies for women in Honduras during the period in which the project was active. In June 2009, just as vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, especially women, started to enjoy the benefits of these policies, a military coup took place. The article explores how new policies were introduced after a military coup ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in June 2009. The new de facto government¹ reversed these and other pro-women policies, prioritizing instead the promotion of foreign enterprise, the extraction of natural resources and the strengthening of free trade markets as tools for poverty eradication. The article ends, however, on an optimistic note by highlighting how, out of political and economic crisis, grassroots women have achieved a new sense of self and confidence in their ability to make change happen.