"Not Worth a Penny" : Human Rights Abuses against Transgender People in Honduras

J. Nieto, S. Long

This report is based on research conducted during two two-week field visits to Honduras in December 2008 and in February 2009, as well as prior and subsequent research, including phone interviews. Overall, Human Rights Watch conducted in-depth interviews with 35 people who were victims of or eyewitnesses to discrimination and physical violence targeting transgender people, in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and La Ceiba, the three major cities in Honduras. Human Rights Watch interviewed other victims who did not want their stories to be included in the report for security reasons. Human Rights Watch also interviewed the Honduran minister of security, leading officers in the Office of the Attorney General, and five high ranking police officials in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, as well as United Nations officials, human rights NGO leaders and activists, and academics. The report focuses on transgender people, in particular male-to-female (MTF) transgender individuals, because of their particular vulnerability to police abuse and violence. Human Right Watch interviewed one self-identified female-to-male (FTM) transgender person, who stated that he had not had problems with the police. Human Rights Watch attempted to locate other FTM transgender people, but without avail.