The Impact of Violence Against Women on Central American Migration

Jun 15, 2022 | The Wilson Center
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Gender-based violence remains one of the most significant yet overlooked drivers of out migration across Central America and the broader region.

Violence against women and girls is often excluded from conversations on the nexus of Central American migration, regional development, and domestic immigration reform. Over the last half-century, topics such as economic empowerment, democracy, transparency, and security have dominated the root-causes conversation. The aim of these investments is to improve the overall stability and well-being of countries and communities in the region, but their effectiveness is limited by a failure to consider the impacts of gender-based violence (GBV) on social and systemwide challenges. 

Though there has been increasing focus from U.S. and international influencers on the levels of violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (known as the Northern Triangle) and its impact on migration, an adequate response to the gendered differences in the ways violence is perpetrated remains limited and at times nonexistent. As the United States and the international community consider a comprehensive plan on Central America and immigration reform, proposed strategies must anchor the status and safety of women and girls at the center of solutions.

Please join the Latin American Program and the George W. Bush Institute on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, from 9:00am to 11:30am ET, to discuss how policies and programs can respond to the serious violations of agency and human rights perpetuated against women and girls that result in instability and migration from the Northern Triangle.