Earlier this week, Honduran journalist Lourdes Ramírez was one of three women worldwide awarded a 2015 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Ramirez has reported for the past 20 years on “corruption, unspeakable violence, and unsolved murders,” the organization said, and as a result, “her family has been threatened, her employment has been terminated, and she has been forced to relocate and temporarily flee the country.”
Ramírez’s experience as a female journalist is a microcosm of the danger in Honduras, especially for women.
As shown in the map above, Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world with some 90 intentional homicides for every 100,000 people — 12 times higher than that of the United States.
Using 2012 data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the map above shows the intentional homicide rate per 100,000 people in a given country.
Alongside the rise in violent crime, Honduras has experienced a surge in domestic violence; 30 percent of Honduran women say they’ve been abused — and the murder rate of women is also among the world’s highest.
Last summer, the violence led to an exodus of well over a hundred thousand migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala — the so-called Northern Triangle — who sought refuge in the United States. Many of those fleeing were unaccompanied children evading gang violence and recruitment, but also women and children looking to flee domestic violence.
Watch the full report on domestic violence in Honduras below.
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