Gender Perspective in the New Criminal Code of Honduras

Abstract

In Honduras a fifth Criminal Code entered into force on June 25, 2020. Among its innovations is the inclusion of the gender criteria in the principle of legality as a rule of interpretation, as well as the incorporation of the discrimination for reasons of genders among the aggravating circumstances. These inclusions are favorable taking into consideration that Honduras is one of the countries with the highest rates of femicide in the Latin-American region and also guarantor of obligations and compromises in the subject. However, due to the fact that gender is conform by the roles, attributes and behaviors given by society to men and women, law in general becomes a product that at the same time reproduce and produce gender. In that sense, is an imperative to analyze the approved Criminal Code in light of the doctrinal developments in the subject, with the purpose of determine if the inclusion of these elements is enough to affirm that this new criminal law framework has a gender perspective.