FiLiA interviews Neesa Medina about the lack of abortion rights in Honduras, one of the four Latin American countries that have the most draconian laws against women freedom.

By Marta Núñez, translated to English by Lucía Marina del Rey

Neesa Medina (@NeesaMedina) is a Honduran feminist sociologist and communications director of the Honduran National Alliance for Safe Abortion, Somos Muchas. She worked for more than eight years as a women’s rights analyst in Honduras at Centro de Derechos de Mujeres (CDM – Center for Women’s Rights), and for three years as the Access Program Director in Optio. She has participated in forums on violence against women, migration, and sexual and reproductive rights, including abortion. She also developed mobilization and communication campaigns around the same themes.

She has provided her expertise in several conferences, exposing structural violence against women in Honduras, forced migration and current security policies in Honduras. Neesa participated in the civil society delegation that drafted and presented the Alternative Report to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2016. In recent years, she has testified as an expert on more than a dozen cases of Honduran women seeking asylum in the United States.

Neesa currently is the communications director of the Honduran National Alliance for Safe Abortion, Somos Muchas, and is also the CLADEM (Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Defense of Women’s Rights) representative in Equal Measures 2030 Partnership Council.”

Marta Núñez (FiLiA): First, we would like to thank you for giving us this interview. We hope to amplify the voices of Honduran women in a global context. I know Honduras has strong legislation against abortion. Could you explain these laws, and how your society views women's right to decide about their bodies?

Neesa Medina - Since 1983, abortion is completely illegal in Honduras, including medical reasons to stop a pregnancy. In 2016 the Penal Code was reformed, and several organisations and independent women got organised to push for a depenalisation of abortion in three instances: when the pregnancy is a product of rape, when it risks woman’s health and life, or when the fetus has no chance of surviving outside the uterus. Even though most of the National Congress representatives were personally in favour of this proposal, pressure from the Catholic and Evangelical Churches made it impossible to pass this change. Nevertheless, this was the first time in the country’s history that a public discussion about abortion was held in Congress. Representatives from different parties spoke in favour of the motion to decriminalise abortion and proposed a public survey to prove that the majority of Hondurans supported it as well.  

However, in January 2021 (a few days after the legalisation of abortion in Argentina), Mario Pérez, a representative from the National Party (current government), presented a motion to modify the Constitution and rise the abortion ban to the highest level. This was approved very quickly (21 days), without the necessary public debate and severe irregularities throughout the process. These actions, which do not respond to any problem whatsoever, are even more offensive in the context of the bad handling of the pandemic, a forced displacement crisis, and increasing rates of violence against women. Our response to this act can be seen in this declaration “Hatred for women in an immutable clause”.

MN -You are the director of the Alliance for Safe Abortion, WE ARE MANY (Alianza por Aborto Seguro, SOMOS MUCHAS). How would you describe a safe abortion? Do women in Honduras have access to this practice, or is it possible for them to go to other countries to safely stop an unwanted pregnancy? 

NM- I would consider a safe abortion one that is focused on the woman’s wellbeing, respecting her decision, and utilising all the scientific, medical, and logistical resources available. Now, all abortions in Honduras are clandestine, and it is important to highlight the distinction between the response of feminist support groups, private healthcare services, and unprepared individuals:

• Feminist support groups assist women who request help to get through a clandestine abortion. These groups prioritise the wellbeing of the woman, are non-profit, and are up to date with the WHO guidelines of safe medical abortion.

• It is widely known that private clinics practice abortions, but these can cost up to $ 40,000, and many of the clinicians are judging negatively women who request them and perform unnecessary invasive procedures.

• For the majority of women, these options are not available, so there are always people who take advantage of these desperate situations. These women are poor , live in rural areas and have no access to public healthcare.
  

MN- What is the status of your organisation? What are their main objectives? 

NM - We are a platform made up of different organisations and individuals who fight together to solve the issue of imposed maternity in Honduras. Of course, this issue covers many areas, but the absolute criminalisation of abortion, both legal and social, is one of the main focuses of our campaign. Our purpose is to fight for the right to decide for every woman, and that every pregnancy and maternity is wanted. 

MN- What are the means you employ to achieve these goals? How has the pandemic influenced your work? 

Our main strategy is collective work. We have three organised action groups: incidence, creation of synergies, and communication. However, we honestly and realistically review our methodology every 6 months and adjust to the available resources and build from where we stand at the moment, instead of responding to external agendas. One of our key moments has been the National Meetings for the Right to Decide, which started in 2018 with 400 participants and doubled its capacity and duration in the following year. In 2020, we adapted the event to the restrictions imposed for the pandemic and organised an 8-hour online session with the participation of different national organisations. We wanted to focus on collective care, local support groups, art in resistance, the history of the feminist movement, and many more topics. But it was a difficult experience, as we missed the physical contact, hugs, spontaneous interactions, and the natural flow we have when we get together. 

MN - Is it dangerous for women in” WE ARE MANY” or in general in Honduras to protest openly about abortion rights or other topics that defy the patriarchy? 

Human rights activists of Honduras are at risk, but those women who defy extractivist companies, defending the territory and common goods, are in the most danger. This was the reason why Berta Cáceres[1] was murdered. Her case is currently in court and can be followed in the social media of COPINH, the organisation that she co-founded. 

For those of us who confront the conservative structures, there are different risks, such as family rejection, exclusion from religious congregations, harassment in social media, attacks during demonstrations, and overall annulment from social movements. Therefore, we understand that publically taking a stand on this issue is not something everyone can do, and we extremely value the courage and the sorority we find along the way. 

MN- How would you describe the evolution of this important issue in Honduras? Do you have alliances with other countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador or Dominican Republic, where abortion is banned and even penalised by prison sentences?  Initiatives such as “Sombrilla Centroamericana” [Central American Umbrella]and other regional groups, allow connecting activists from Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. We understand that what happens in each of our countries can affect the others, either positively or negatively. An example of this is how after the constitutional reform about abortion in Honduras, this topic has been introduced in the agenda of the Congress of Guatemala. 

I clearly see that Honduran society has evolved to be more compassionate with women and girls, and now the damaging laws are being questioned more and more. The change is visible in the media, where they are in favour in some instances, or they say things like “Would you imagine your mother in a situation like this?”. It is also seen in the lawmakers, who have elevated the debate and are starting to connect the decriminalisation of abortion to a truly democratic society. And finally, it is felt in ourselves, who are taking this stand to our relationships, friendships, and family, where the personal becomes political. 

On the topic of women who are criminalised for abortion, we have recently published a research. In this, we show that most of these women are young, domestic workers from rural areas. As of today, there are 49 women in this situation in Honduras, although thanks to the support groups, there are also stories of justice and freedom.  

MN: You have testified in several cases of women seeking asylum in the United States, why do they need you to do it? 

For almost ten years I have worked in the Women's Rights Center of Honduras. As part of my work there, I investigated and analysed the different types of violence women endure in the country. In this way, we started learning about more cases of women requesting asylum in the EEUU. Each of their lives is a tale of multiple acts of violence, aggressors, and omission from the institutions and State officials. These women run away because they feel cornered, and their survival instinct tells them they cannot remain in the country; because they do not trust the State to launch appropriate responses, which makes it impossible to get justice to their aggressor; and because sexual violence and femicides have been on the news daily for 10 years and it clearly defines how women live.

One of the cases that most impacted me was a Garífuna [2] woman whose partner sexually abused her and beat her so brutally that caused miscarriages. She had heard that abortion is a crime, and was scared to go to the hospital to seek help and get arrested. It can be very overwhelming to think about the loneliness she experienced, but there are many women who go through similar situations, and the current laws and hate speech further sentence these women. 

MN: Since 2018, Filia UK has worked to create links with Latino American women collectives that fight for the rights of women and girls. How could we help your organisation, SOMOS MUCHAS?

There are always opportunities to create alliances, establish common interests, and define courses of action. It would be valuable for us to continue exploring possible alliances. 

MN -This sounds great. We really appreciate you sharing your story and work, and hope we keep in touch, and perhaps in the future we could mutually agree on having you as one of our speakers in our next Conference. 

[1] Berta Cáceres was a Honduran environmental activist and campaigner, fierce land defender and leader of her indigenous Lenca people. Berta was brutally murdered after she expressed her opposition to a contaminating hydroelectric project. Mother of 4 children, she was killed in her own house when she was 44 years old in 2nd March 2016. Her death has brought to light the complicity of official institutions that favour foreign interests instead of protecting their own land.

 [2] The Garifuna people are descendant of indigenous people (Arawaks and Caribs) and West African Black slaves shipwrecked or escaped from Barbados. Today they constitute a community of 300,000 people many of whom live in the US and Canada, and in coastal towns and villages of Central American countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Original Interview in Spanish