Educational exclusion, recruitment by criminal groups, and lack of opportunities are among the factors that increase the vulnerability of children and adolescents in Honduras, warned Cándida Maradiaga, representative of the National Human Rights Commission (Conadeh), while calling for security strategies not to stigmatize young people.
The official argued that adolescents involved with the justice system do not, by themselves, explain the criminality affecting the country.
Therefore, she urged authorities to prioritize violence prevention, comprehensive protection, and the rehabilitation of those who come into conflict with the law.
Maradiaga backed her argument with figures on the population subject to judicial measures. According to her, 157 adolescents remain deprived of liberty, while another 1,426 are serving non-custodial measures.
In contrast, she noted that 19,374 adults are deprived of liberty — a difference that, in her view, demonstrates the need to analyze insecurity from a broader perspective, without assigning the primary responsibility to the adolescent population.
The Conadeh representative insisted that public policies must take into account the social conditions surrounding minors and the risk situations that can lead them to come into contact with criminal structures.
One of the aspects that concerns the organization …
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The Conadeh considers that criminality must be analyzed taking into account the social conditions affecting children and youth. (Photo: CONADEH) Educational exclusion, recruitment by criminal groups, and lack of opportunities are among the factors that increase the vulnerability of children and adolescents in Honduras, warned Cándida Maradiaga, representative of the National Human Rights Commission (Conadeh), while calling for security strategies not to stigmatize young people. The official argued that adolescents involved in the justice system do not, by themselves, explain the criminality affecting the country. Therefore, she urged authorities to prioritize violence prevention, comprehensive protection, and the rehabilitation of those who come into conflict with the law. Maradiaga backed her argument with figures on the population subject to judicial measures. According to her, 157 adolescents remain deprived of liberty, while another 1,426 are serving non-custodial measures. In contrast, she noted that 19,374 adults are deprived of liberty, a difference that, in her view, demonstrates the need to analyze insecurity from a broader perspective, without attributing primary responsibility to the adolescent population. According to the figures presented by Maradiaga, 157 adolescents remain deprived of liberty in Honduras. Another 1,426 adolescents are serving non-custodial judicial measures, according to the data cited by the Conadeh representative. (Photo: National Police) The Conadeh representative insisted that public policies must take into account the social conditions surrounding minors and the risk situations that may lead them to come into contact with criminal structures. One of the aspects that concerns the human rights organization is the number of children and adolescents who remain out of school, a situation that can limit their development opportunities and increase their exposure to various forms of violence. Maradiaga noted that more than 1.2 million children and adolescents are excluded from the education system, while others face problems such as bullying, child labor, and hazardous work. The official also warned about the forced recruitment of minors by criminal groups, which, she explained, use adolescents for illicit activities such as drug sales and extortion. The recruitment of minors by criminal groups constitutes one of the risks identified by the Conadeh. (Photo: National Police) These situations represent a challenge for the institutions responsible for guaranteeing children's rights, especially in communities where conditions of social and economic vulnerability exist. To this picture are added children living on the streets and teenage pregnancies, including cases related to sexual abuse, problems that require coordinated responses between state institutions and protection systems. The Conadeh representative considered it necessary to avoid young people being broadly blamed for the country's security problems, without addressing the factors that expose them to violence and involvement in criminal activities. Faced with this scenario, the Conadeh proposed the need to strengthen the Comprehensive System for Guaranteeing the Rights of Children and Adolescents of Honduras (SIGADENAH), created in 2019 to coordinate actions aimed at protecting minors. Maradiaga also requested increasing the resources allocated to the Secretariat of Children, Adolescents and Family (Senaf), in order to expand its response capacity and improve care for children and adolescents in situations of risk. Child labor, hazardous work, and street situations are among the problems affecting Honduran children. (PHOTO: Hondudiario) The representative stated that the State must support families and strengthen prevention, protection, and rehabilitation mechanisms, rather than concentrating its efforts solely on punitive measures. From this perspective, addressing children's needs requires policies that guarantee access to education, reduce exposure to criminal recruitment, and allow timely intervention when situations of vulnerability are detected. Likewise, strengthening the institutions responsible for protecting minors is key to responding to the various forms of violence and exclusion affecting this population. Maradiaga reiterated that authorities must address the structural causes of insecurity and guarantee the rights of adolescents who come into conflict with the law.