Honduras proposes new law to combat child sexual abuse

The Coordinator of Private Institutions for Girls, Boys, Adolescents, Youth and their Rights (Coiproden) has proposed a new law to the Honduran National Congress to strengthen the prevention, detection, and prosecution of child sexual abuse. Organization director Wilmer Vásquez reported that Honduras records between 24 and 26 cases of child sexual abuse daily, highlighting an urgent need for specialized institutional responses.

The legislative initiative, which includes 31 articles, is currently undergoing review by the Commission of Family, Childhood, Youth, and the Elderly. Led by congresswoman Alejandra Vallecillo, the commission is evaluating technical adjustments to the proposal.

Key components of the law include establishing mandatory protocols for early detection, creating a national action route that allows families and communities to trigger alerts without initial physical evidence, and ensuring specialized medical and psychological care. The proposal also aims to prevent the re-victimization of minors through specialized judicial processes, such as single, video-recorded interviews adapted to the child's developmental stage.