Fluctuating improvements to public safety in Honduras

Honduras has reported a decrease in criminal victimisation between 2014 and 2018. However, 13 out of every 100 Hondurans claim to have been the victim of a crime in 2018.

Despite the data, public safety is still one of the country’s main problems. Nevertheless, Hondurans believe it has become less of an issue in the last five years. Along these lines, 43 out of every 100 Hondurans considered public safety to be the main problem faced by the country during 2018.

A slightly higher percentage of men (13.4%) than women (12.1%) were victims of a crime in 2018.

The retrospective figures for homicidal violence in Honduras between 2013 and 2018 show a downward trend with a 36-point drop in the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants.

Quantitatively, the section of the population most affected by homicides during this period were men between 18 and 29 years of age. In 2018 specifically, this segment of the population accounted for 4 out of every 10 homicides.

Unfortunately, in 2018 the total number of recorded incidents increased by 22% compared to 2017. The figures rose from 31,612 crimes in 2017, to 39,463 in 2018. The indicators to experience a decrease were homicides (-3%), sexual offences (-0.5%), child abuse (-50%), injuries (-16%) and kidnappings (-13%). Property crimes were among the indicators to experience an increase, rising by 52% compared to 2017.

Another concerning figure in the section on property crimes is the sharp increase in extortion, which has doubled since 2015. It should also be noted that 72% of all crime reports were concentrated in just four municipalities.

The rate of violent deaths has continued to fall, decreasing by 46.5% 2018 compared to 2013. During this same period, the homicide rate in Latin America as a whole decreased by 7.7%. Therefore, despite the continued slowdown in the homicide rate in Honduras, the country’s figure was still twice that of the Latin American rate in 2018.

In 2018, 90% of the victims of violent deaths were men. And 41% of the victims of violent homicides were in the 15 to 29-year-old age group. Thus, the rate of violent deaths for men aged 18 to 29 years old is 3.4 times higher than the national rate of violent deaths.

Ten municipalities accounted for half of the country’s total homicides. On the other hand, 41 municipalities did not report any homicides during 2018.

With regard to sexual offences, in 2018, two out of three victims of sexual crimes were women under the age of 30. And 83% of reported sex crimes had female victims.

In domestic violence, eight out of ten victims were women aged 15 to 39. Similarly, 71% of domestic violence reports involved women between the ages of 15 and 39. Overall, 9 out of every 10 victims of domestic violence were women.

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