The Sociopolitical Context of Violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala

Abstract

Despite the enormous personal, social and economic costs associated with gang and gender-based violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, outside the region there exists a generally limited and distorted understanding of the sociopolitical context within which violence occurs. This paper examines the sociopolitical context of gang and gender-based violence; the factors that undermine the ability and the willingness of governments in the region to protect the public; and the social, cultural, economic, gender and criminological variables that typically undermine internal relocation as a strategy for escaping life-threatening risk.

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