While international outlets often focus on the reasons why people leave Honduras, I decided to focus on those who stay and fight for a country where people no longer have to flee.

On the first part of the reporting trip in Tegucigalpa I focused on activism within the LGBTQI community in Honduras. I spent two days at Cattrachas, a feminist lesbian organization that, for 20 years, has kept detailed records of human rights abuses in the community. Through evidence based activism, their goal is to change laws in Honduras that recognize their humanity.

I also interviewed artists using art to advocate for change, investigative journalists challenging corruption, a trans woman who, after countless abuses, continued to fight for her rights, and a forensics medic using her knowledge to create a system that correctly tracks femicides and murders in the LGBTQI community.

Despite very real dangers, it’s women in Honduras who are fearlessly fighting for their right to survive, to grow old, and to live with dignity.

Samanta Helou Hernandez, 2019 IWMF Honduras Fellow