Case History: Esdra Yaveth Sosa Sierra
Security risks mount for human rights defender Esdra Yaveth Sosa Sierra. The activist was seeking help from a women's center in Honduras on 26 March 2015, where she was discussing a recent spate of threats and harassment. Leaving the meeting, she was against harassed on the street.
Esdra Yaveth Sosa Sierra is the Director of Asociación Arcoiris, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organisation that promotes equality and equity for the LGBTI community in Honduras. She is also a member of the Grupo Lesbico / Bisexual Litos. In 2013, Asociación Arcoiris's offices were broken into and perpetrators removed the computer operating the organisation's security cameras. The group continues to operate today despite the extremely high levels of violence faced by LGBTI rights defenders in Honduras.
Security risks mount for human rights defender Esdra Yaveth Sosa Sierra. The activist was seeking help from a women's center in Honduras on 26 March 2015, where she was discussing a recent spate of threats and harassment. Leaving the meeting, she was against harassed on the street.
In June 2014, the late Nelson Arambú told the Washington Blade that anti-LGBTI violence has “skyrocketed since the 2009 coup.” Arambu, who passed away in February 2015, said that more than 170 LGBTI Hondurans were reported killed between June 2009 and May 2014.
As a result of her continuing work for sexuality and gender rights in the Central American country, Sosa Sierra has also been the subject of a series of intimidations and death threats. On 19 March 2015, three unknown men reportedly arrived at the office of Asociación Arcoiris to ask for her. According to the information received, the attitude of the men seemed suspicious, and the men left after a few verbal exchanges with the security agent of the organisation. The previous day, on 18 March 2015, Esdra Yaveth Sosa Sierra had received an anonymous letter containing death threats against her as well as the other members of her organisation.
On 26 March 2015, Sosa Sierra, visited the women rights organisation Centro de Estudio de la Mujeres in Tegucigalpa. Her colleague, Donny Reyes Velazquez, a human rights defender who has also been the victim of harassment, assault, and assassination attempts, accompanied her to the women's rights center. As the human rights defenders left the organisation and walked two blocks looking for a taxi, an unknown man approached Sosa Sierra and asked her what she was doing there and what offices she was visiting. Sosa Sierra immediately walked away and entered the taxi with her colleague.
