Sec. 1372. Findings
350 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/4350/eh/section-1372·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have among the highest homicide rates in the world. In 2020, there were— 19.7 homicides per 100,000 people in El Salvador; 15.4 homicides per 100,000 people in Guatemala; and 37.6 homicides per 100,000 people in Honduras. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are characterized by a high prevalence of drug- and gang-related violence, murder, and crimes involving sexual- and gender-based violence against women and children, including domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault.
In 2019, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras were all listed among the 7 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region with the highest rates of femicides (the intentional killing of women or girls because of their gender). In 2019— 113 women in El Salvador were victims of femicide; 160 women in Guatemala were victims of femicide; and 299 women in Honduras were victims of femicide or violent homicide. In 2015, El Salvador and Honduras were among the top 3 countries in the world with the highest child homicides rates, with more than 22 and 32 deaths per 100,000 children, respectively, according to the nongovernmental organization Save the Children.
Thousands of women, children, and families from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras fled unsafe homes and communities in 2019. Violent crimes against women and children are generally assumed to be substantially under-reported because the majority of victims lack safe access to protection and justice. Impunity for perpetrators of violence against women is rampant in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. There was a 5 percent conviction rate for violence against women in El Salvador in 2016 and 2017.
The impunity level for violence against women in Guatemala was 97.05 percent in 2018. In 2018, there was an impunity rate of 95 percent for violence against women in Honduras. According to a study conducted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars— childhood experiences with domestic violence in Latin America are a major risk factor for future criminal behavior; and 56 percent of incarcerated women and 59 percent of incarcerated men surveyed experienced intra-familial violence during childhood.