During the visit, the Commission observed the persistence of high levels of inequality and social exclusion affecting large sectors of the population. It specifically observed the severe difficulties and challenges in gaining access to basic needs, job opportunities, natural resources such as land and means of livelihood.
During the visit, the Commission received information specifically regarding the situation of women and indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, some of the population groups that are most vulnerable as a result of economic and social inequality and exclusion and persistent discrimination, a situation that in turn translates into violations of their human rights.
With a population amounting to more than 8.5 million persons, 64.5% are living in conditions of poverty and 42.6% in extreme poverty.538 The National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística―INE) specifies that, although poverty is more severe in the rural sector, it also affects more than half of all households in the urban sector. Honduras has the second highest poverty rate in Latin America.539
In that respect, Honduras is one of the four most unequal countries in Latin America, with a Gini coefficient of 0.54 in 2013. While 60% of the national income is earned by the wealthiest 20% of the nation, the poorest 20% earn just 2.02% of the income.540 According to UNDP, the Human Development Index for Honduras in 2013 amounted to 0.617, keeping the country in the category of medium human development and ranking the country 129th out of 187 countries and territories.
The Commission has underscored that laws and policies must be assessed to ensure that they are compatible with the principles of equality and nondiscrimination. This analysis must assess the potential discriminatory impact stemming from the laws and policies being examined, even when their drafting or wording appear to be neutral and their text does not openly establish a discriminatory application.541
Specifically, the IACHR received testimony concerning the dire situation faced by women employed at transnational textile companies and by Miskito divers. The next section examines the situation of these population groups in more detail.
Women
“Violence against women occurs because other forms of discrimination are allowed to flourish.”542 Although women account for 52% of the population of Honduras, for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, there is still considerable gender inequality in the civil, political, economic and social spheres, which precludes the full enjoyment of human rights by women and girls.543 According to the United Nations Rapporteur: “Obstacles to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of women's human rights and a life free from all forms of violence include deeply rooted patriarchal attitudes and the pervasiveness of a machista culture that reinforces stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family, in the workplace and in society.”544
According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur "power imbalances and structural inequality between men and women are among the root causes of violence against women”545 and “this makes violence against women a matter of inter-gender inequality between women and men.”546 In addition, she indicated that various United Nations resolutions have acknowledged that discrimination is understood as having multiple forms that combine to heighten the vulnerability of some women and girls to violence. This reflects an understanding that discrimination and violence against women is also a matter of intra-gender inequality among women.547
For the Commission, this inequality and stereotypes prevailing in Honduran society and perpetuated in the public sphere expose women to a higher risk of being victims of many forms of violence. In this framework, the Commission is concerned about constraints on women in the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights. For example, the IACHR received information of concern about sterilization without prior informed consent of women living with HIV.548
The IACHR also received information about the impact that the prohibition of using emergency contraceptives adopted in 2009 is having, including in cases of rape.549
The IACHR notes with alarm that under-age women account for 26% of all pregnancies.550 The IACHR urges the State of Honduras to adopt measures to safeguard the sexual and reproductive rights of women, as well as their right to the highest standard of health.
In that regard, the IACHR urges the State to revise its public policies so as to modify stereotypes about women's role in society and the family and promote the elimination of sociocultural patterns that restrict their options to entering the labor, political, and economic realm of activities. Because of this, mechanisms must be established to empower women throughout the country. Regarding health, the IACHR urges the State to guarantee access to reproductive health services without any discrimination for the purpose of safeguarding the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights.
The IACHR was also informed on the risks that girls and adolescent girls confront in their communities, in particular gender based violence. For example, girls and adolescents must often deal with threats by gang members, at school or in the community, for them to have sex or emotional bonds with them, and there have even been reports of cases of girls and adolescents being killed because they refused to do so.551 These situations have an impact on the right of girls to education, leading to absenteeism and dropping out, in addition to restricting their personal liberty and their possibility of carrying out daily activities in the community because of the pressure and threats against them, many of them staying at home as a way to protect themselves.
Various United Nations agencies have stressed that the empowerment of women, which includes economic empowerment and their full access to resources on the basis of equal conditions, their full integration into the formal economy, especially with respect to economic decision making, and their full participation on an equal footing in all levels of public, political, and cultural life are essential to combat the underlying causes of both sexual and other kinds of violence against women.552 In the Vienna+20 Declaration, it was established that "the intersection of gender-based discrimination, poverty, socio-economic marginalization and violence must be addressed by States.”553
Although women's literacy rate is almost the same as men's, on average women are paid 67.6% of the wage earned by men, and women's unemployment rate is double that of men. As indicated by the United Nations Rapporteur and the Commission, during their visit it was observed that the sectors where women work, especially the maquiladora industry [assembly/manufacturing plants for the export market], tend to be less subject to regulation. Women are thus “exposed to poor working conditions, low wages, little job security and the potential risk of exploitation and violence."554 Below, the IACHR shall focus on the severe situation of women working in these assembly plants (maquilas).
21.Women working in the maquilas
The IACHR received information of concern about the situation of women working in the maquilas of transnational companies benefiting from special systems,555 who are tackling a series of violations of their right to humane treatment and the absence of safe working conditions because of a series of factors, among which the most noteworthy are: exhausting work days much longer than those legally permitted; adverse consequences for their health; and low pay because of the State's failure to monitor these activities.
Honduras ranks first among those countries exporting garments to the United States. It is currently estimated that 52.8% of workers in the maquilas are women.556 79% of the women working in the maquilas are young people between 18 and 35 years old, with a low level of schooling, with 52.6% having completed a six-year elementary school and 21.8% having started secondary education.557
The IACHR gathered witness statements regarding the inadequate conditions in which these women perform their work, especially with regard to a daily work shift of up to 12 hours, although this type of workday breaches the Constitution of Honduras, which provides for an 8-hour workday.558 According to information received, this same number of hours is also applied for night shifts and, as result of the obligation to work long shifts, working women may be working up to 72 hours per week.559 Likewise, production is based on a quota or target system, a situation which leads women to work outside the formal workday schedule.
This type of work shift, using forced postures and repetitive work required by the activity itself, exposes the working women to ergonomic risk factors560 which in many cases lead to occupational illnesses and/or job accidents. According to information provided, as a result of ergonomic risks and the requirements of their working posture, there are high rates of symptoms indicative of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders561 among women working in maquilas for garment manufacturing, with 62% of the employees working 9 hours a day, and 66% of them working up to 12-hours shifts.562 In that regard, the Commission listened to the testimony of a woman working in a maquila, who has been waiting since 2010 for a review of her working conditions, in response to the ruling issued by the Technical Commission on Disabilities of the Honduran Social Security Administration. She indicated: "I have come to depend on my sister and family. I cannot travel in a bus standing up, I always have to be seated. I can't even carry five oranges. I can't get dressed alone. I have been suffering from acute depression; and many of my co-workers as well.”563
As for the wages under the system for transnational companies, according to the information received, they had not increased in two years since 2009, leading to a gap between the wages between garment workers and other sectors of production. According to information received, five years since changes in the minimum wage, the women working in maquilas have not as yet been able to earn the minimum wage of 5,500 Lempiras per month that was set in 2009 (the equivalent of US$248).564 In view of this situation, the women working in the maquilas indicated that they benefit from hardly any inspections, or none at all, by the Labor Secretariat and have limited access to justice.
Organizations representing these groups indicated that the Honduran State has failed to respond to the complaints filed with respect to alleged violations of the rights to work and health by the respective private corporations.565 In particular, it was highlighted that the highly demanding working conditions were leading to high rates of depression and anxiety among the working women.566 The IACHR takes note of how general medical services have been subrogated to the Medical System for Enterprises, thereby limiting workers' access to the Honduran Social Security Administration (IHSS). The IACHR urges the State guarantee women working in the maquilas access to the IHSS when needed.
As for the State, it indicated that, in November 2013, CODEMUH submitted to the executive office of the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security a working plan or roadmap to follow in the case of women affected by and benefiting from a job relocation ruling issued by the Commission on Disabilities of the Social Security Administration. This plan included a request for labor inspectors to notify enterprises about job rotation. In response, the Labor and Social Security Secretariat reviewed the files of the working women. The Department of Medicine is also in the process of drawing up procedures for conducting ergonomic assessments. At present, the Labor and Social Security Secretariat have a standardized procedure for working women who need job relocation because of occupational hazards.567
The State also reported that, in 2014, the Labor and Social Security Secretariat had imposed penalties on eight maquila enterprises and filed 135 proceedings against maquilas for breaking the law. As for policies and legislation, the State indicated that the National Policy for Women and the Public Policy and Plan of Action for Human Rights includes a wide-ranging chapter on women's rights, which includes working women. In terms of the regulatory framework, the General Regulations on Measures to Prevent Accidents at Work and Occupational Illnesses has been in force since 2004. Thanks to coordination with the National Women's Institute, the regulatory framework has been drawn up to adopt the Gender Equity Management System, which is aimed at promoting equal opportunities and preventing discrimination and harassment at work.568
Regarding access to justice, the State indicated that the forum having jurisdiction is the Labor Secretariat, which has a Program for Working Women. It also pointed out that another forum for filing complaints are the Municipal Offices for Women.
According to information in press, an amparo action in favor of 49 maquila workers was ruled on by the Supreme Court of Justice. The Court ordered the Secretary of Labor and Social Security to adopt an inspection mechanism that would allow to diminish the risk at the job posts, review the work day of almost 12 hours per day and ensure that persons that won the amparo action an ordinary work day of 8 hours per day, including a dignified salary.569 The IACHR welcomes said ruling and hopes that it is duly implemented by the State.
The IACHR recommends that the State implement adequate monitoring and surveillance measures for the workplace and services for women working in the maquilas, including due control over work shifts and accessible mechanisms to file complaints, as well as the need to remedy the wage gap and review laws currently in force, especially on occupational health to prevent labor hazards, as well as to install an occupational health diagnostic registry.
