Menijvar, Cecilia and Shannon Drysdale Walsh. “The Architecture of Feminicide: The State, Inequalities, and Everyday Gender Violence in Honduras.” Latin American Research Review 52, no. 2 (2017): 221-240.

This article examines prevalent violence against women or feminicide (motivated murders against women) in Honduras specifically. This study explains this form of violence as not only due to economic crisis or interpersonal relationships, but as inaction from the state and their failure to acknowledge this violence. The authors specifically state that after the 2009 coup, there has been an increasing amount of oppression and a widening gap of gender rights, as well as structural inequality. Although there are laws in place that protects women’s rights, there are not enforced and the repression of women is being normalized. Furthermore, due to increased militarization there has been a decease in accountability for crimes and decreased transparency seen in the failure of reporting such crimes against women.

The authors examined this issue with an inductive approach into cases and instead of using direct forms of data such as interviews or surveys, they look into primary and secondary data. This includes laws that address violence against women, refugees reports, civil rights organizations the press, and the Honduran government. This allows for different sources of data that make the information more accurate and does not just focus on random cases. Also, viewing more primary forms of data further informs their argument about the state’s failure to abide by laws.

This research can be very useful for my own research because it examines structural inequality and access to safety and justice in a way that can be useful when viewing these patterns in other Latin American countries. Also, it’s important because it explains the importance and the role of the government in securing certain rights for citizens.