HONDURAS-WOMEN: Domestic Violence is in Suburbia, Too

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Aug 27 1996 (IPS) - A recent high-profile case has confirmed to women’s groups in Honduras that the scourge of domestic violence against women has spread from houses with cardboard doors to homes with marble and sculpted wood.

On August 5th, Sana Susu Hasbun, a 35-year-old woman of Arab descent who on numerous occasions had brought complaints against her wealthy husband for abuse, was shot in the forehead and killed.

Police did not immediate arrest her husband, whose father is a wealthy congressman.

According to women’s organizations, the killing could have been prevented if authorities had acted immediately on the murdered woman’s claims of abuse. They say she had remained in the house fearing she would lose her two children if she left.

“But because her husband was a man with links to the world of politics and the son of a congressional representative, Hasbun’s complaints fell on deaf ears, because in this country impunity and political immunity are very powerful tentacles,” said Maria Antonia Martinez, of the Center for Women’s Rights (CDM), in an interview with IPS.

The CDM, which has taken the Hasbun case as an example of the different forms of domestic violence in Honduras, warned that the case could remain unresolved.

CDM and other women’s and popular organizations have organized a march of solidarity for Thursday. In its search for answers, the family says it has come up against one obstacle after another in the justice system.

The victim’s mother, Diana Hasbun, said that there are witnesses to the killing of her daughter. But although there is a court order against the husband, “nobody is doing anything and everyone throws the ball into another court.”

Among Hasbun’s personal belongings, her family found a series of notes that described the day to day abuses committed by her husband. These include allegations of beatings, the firing of shots into the air, threats, insults, and rape.

The couple lived together for 10 years. Several months ago, Hasbun denounced the physical and psychological abuse that she was suffering. Apparently her complaints were not taken seriously.

The case gained notoriety not only because the two families were well-known, but also because it was the first time that this kind of case was made public in Honduras. It was evidence that not only poor women suffer from domestic violence.

Loly Salas, of the CDM’s legal department, said that every day at least one woman is raped or physically and psychologically abused in Honduras. “The laws somehow justify that men can kill their wives,” said Salas.

According to data collected by CDM, so far this year 330 women have presented formal complaints against their husbands for abuse. That number could be much higher if one counts cases presented to the police, the District Attorney and other women’s organizations.

Five years ago, when the assassination of a female student by an Army colonel came to light — and broke the mural of fear and impunity in Honduras — women’s organizations began pressing for reforms in the Penal and Family Code, which have many deficiencies in terms of protecting women against violence.

However, that initiative has still not had concrete results. The struggle has since focussed on passing legislation against domestic violence and curbing its escalation.

According to the CDM, violence against women is tolerated in Honduras, despite the fact that the government has ratified international conventions for its eradication.

Hasbun’s mother declared that in this sense, her daughter’s death has served as an example for women “not to fear men’s threats,” and to seek help.