Gangs’stories: how 15-year-old Jennifer became Honduras’ first female gang leader

She claimed she was lucky to have discovered a two-bed house she can afford, despite its being close to a number of gang areas. Jennifer is not extremely tall, yet her firm stance and stern look offer her a mood of authority. It’s warm inside, the revolving fan barely cooling us down. Jennifer is using a tight-fitting pink gown. She maintains her phone next to her crossed legs and searches for at me.

Two years had passed because Jennifer and I had very first fulfilled in 2019. I was doing research on women and gangs in Honduras from 2017 to 2020 in 2 significant cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. The duty of ladies in gangs had just been described by males up till that factor, so I intended to test that male-dominated story by asking females to share their very own experiences in the gangs.

I’m being in a plastic armchair, looking from a 90 ° angle at Jennifer as she rests on a tiny two-seater couch without armrests. The living-room has another single-person couch, a TELEVISION, and a cooking area without a table. We remain in 2021 and for the first time in 25 years, Jennifer, age 38, has a residence of her own.

Ellen Van Damme uses us a portrait of Hondura’s initial female gang leader. For her safety and security, her name has actually been changed and information of her place and gang affiliations, kept to a minimum. Her tale illustrates the frequently gendered nature of gangs, and the manner in which macho and patriarchy constrain Jennifer’s life, even as a gang leader.

The very first time I met Jennifer was at a social worker’s residence who had supported her when she had actually just left the gang in 2007 by offering her a task in an NGO assisting previous gang members rehabilitate society. She had been very clear with me from the start:

She gained the respect of those guys and quickly ended up being the initial female gang leader. Jennifer managed the handling of cannabis which was the main medicine on the marketplace after that, she had over a loads other females under her command, and soon moved from being a gang participant to a the mob leader. She was 15 years of ages.

A lady takes part in a demo from the Fuerzas Armadas blvd to the High court of Justice in Tegucigalpa, on March 8, 2024, in the framework of the International Female’s Day. Honduras has still an extremely high number of femicides.Orlando Sierra/AFP

Several ladies had actually currently been killed because they were regarded to have fallen short the gang (according to male gang members) and just those who were most relied on could cease to be an active gang member. As Jennifer clarified, in the end, “you’ll always belong to the gang family members”.

The women started out by contraband drugs and weapons right into the prisons, however soon they were also tasked with taking tools, trafficking drugs, accumulating extortion cash, and killing. In one of the lots of shootouts in between the police and her clique of women, in an attempt to conserve among her “chicks” from the authorities, Jennifer was caught and secured. While behind bars, she found out her stepfather had actually proceeded abusing her mother which he had also stabbed her with a blade. Jennifer was furious, however there was nothing she might do about it in prison.

Several of the Central American immigrants had actually discovered themselves compelled to join one of the regional Latino gangs: the Barrio 18 and the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Following the mass deportations of convicts from the USA back to Central America after completion of the civil war duration, the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gang society was additionally exported to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

After showing her fighting skills and the guts she had to withstand various other male gang participants by resisting their attempts of pushing her into a standard care-giving role and by signing up with fights along with male gang members, Jennifer was told that she awaited her very first tumba (tomb). She was given the job to eliminate a member of the rival gang. But the only person she wished to eliminate was her stepfather– he was the only factor she had found out to fight to start with.

Jennifer wound up on the street at the age of 13, after she was raped by her stepfather. In less than 24 hours, her imagine being a Barbie princess turned into the fact of joining the only people she can discover on the roads: gangs.

Back in the ’90s, Jennifer did not have to go with any type of gang routine to incorporate the group. One point was clear to her, she wanted to discover just how to kill so she could take retribution on her stepfather.

She fell back right into drugs and alcohol while enrolled in a reintegration program, and was subsequently tossed out of the program, a terrible result because of the lack of rehabilitation or reintegration programs in Honduras readily available for females leaving gangs.

Jennifer jumped into the gang “the way a guy leaps into the gang”, by being defeated up by numerous gang participants for a certain number of times– 13 if it was the MS-13 and 18 if it was the Barrio 18. Provided that there were barely any female gang participants at the time, Jennifer obtained the whippings from male gang members. After showing her combating skills and the courage she had to stand up versus other male gang participants by resisting their attempts of pushing her into a standard care-giving role and by signing up with battles along with male gang members, Jennifer was told that she was ready for her first tumba (grave). “The killing is a relentless story,” Jennifer sighed, “when they eliminated 2 members of our gang, we would certainly eliminate and go three participants of the rival gang, and they would certainly take their vengeance again on us. Numerous women had already been killed because they were perceived to have stopped working the gang (according to male gang members) and only those who were most relied on might discontinue to be an energetic gang member.

Macho is the belief in male hegemony over ladies and various other men, played out with physical force, control, and violence which is widespread in this particular context, in addition to femicides.
Femicide prices have without a doubt enhanced in the previous twenty years, making Honduras the country with one of the most femicides in Latin America).

The Jennifer encountering me now, with whom I have actually maintained call over the previous couple of years, was much more unwinded and spoken to much less hesitation. She recognized I had not been just interested in an one-time meeting and that I would not leakage her name to the police.

Throughout her time in the gang, Jennifer lost contact with her family members. While male gang participants frequently keep contact with their biological household, consisting of through brows through from their mothers, wives and various other family members when behind bars, female gang leaders have a tendency to be declined due to double deviance– both versus the legislation and against their conventional gendered function.

Previously this year, Jennifer texted me to state that the scenario was getting worse without saying anything concerning the gangs. I recognized she was referring to the raising presence of gang participants in her neighbourhood and she was believing of leaving the nation with her two youngest children.

The first time we fulfilled, Jennifer mentioned just how essential it was for her to really feel a feeling of power and prominence, much like men do. As a little lady she liked Barbies, but as quickly as her moms and dads divided, she desired she was birthed a guy so she might be the head of the family. Jennifer familiarized her gendered setting in life when her stepfather moved in the house and required that she and her brother or sisters follow his policies.

Not being allowed to kill her stepfather, Jennifer concentrated on killing opponents of the gang when purchased to. “The murder is a never-ending story,” Jennifer sighed, “when they killed two members of our gang, we would go and eliminate three participants of the competing gang, and they would take their retribution once more on us.

Thankfully for Jennifer, she had actually obtained that trust by being devoted to the gang all those years. After many months of pleading, she received approval to leave. When she did, she asserted that she “traded her weapon for the bible.”

Time after time Jennifer was fighting versus the everyday macho she had to handle in the gang. Women gang participants, although they did not maintain any individual partnerships with male gang participants, were still anticipated to deal with household jobs, such as doing men’s washing, cook them food, and more.

No one recognizes the exact variety of gang members in the nation, however estimates range from 5,000 to 40,000 energetic participants. While Honduras, like El Salvador, is attempting to punish gangs and gang violence with a state of emergency situation, the cops in Honduras is still struggling with high degrees of corruption, consisting of cooperation with gang members.

Regarding femicides in Honduras: ABC Information, 2017. On Might 4, 2017 Miss Honduras Maria Jose Alvarado ended up being an awful symbol of gender-based violence after she was eliminated, however numerous Honduran females reside in fear of being assaulted by guys.

Jennifer delved into the gang “the method a man delves into the gang”, by being attacked by numerous gang members for a particular number of times– 13 if it was the MS-13 and 18 if it was the Barrio 18. Given that there were hardly any women gang members at the time, Jennifer received the beatings from male gang participants. Despite reports of ladies being sexed-in to the gang, Jennifer did not have any sexual relations (compelled or voluntary) with a male gang participant as component of her initiation rite.

She really felt very conflicted concerning that role. Ladies were regarded specifically valuable for medication contraband as they might smuggle a lot more medications in their body than men could, using both their vaginal canal and rectum. For 20-40 USD (500-1000 Honduran Lempiras,) women would stuff as much medicines as they can in their body and tried to obtain it passed the warder.

When she left the gang, she was enabled to conceal a few of her gang-related tattoos, however not the ones that showed the gang’s name. Whatever, her body will always be related to the gang until she dies.

Jennifer, now well into her 30s, has actually experienced many ups and downs given that she left the gang, similar to most female gang participants I have actually experienced during the training course of my study. She constantly deals with cash and had to resist attempts from the gang to entice her back in with the guarantee of gaining large amounts for dealing drugs.

Throughout Jennifer’s time as a climbing gang leader, even more females had actually to be hired to replace the enhancing number of male gang participants being locked up under the repressive Mano Dura policies. The plans included reforms to the chastening code to enable legislation enforcement to jail and restrain anybody they presumed of being a gang participant based on their look– such as putting on baggy clothes or having tattoos.

Jennifer wished to climb the hierarchy as quick as feasible. She did not want to be told what to do, like when she dealt with her stepfather. She did not want to be a medicine mule, she wanted to be the one in charge of them.

After experiencing the murders and physical violence within the gang, being raped by police officers while behind bars, and shedding her setting as a gang leader due to the fact that she was jailed, Jennifer chose she had had sufficient.

Her gang was not pleased to learn about this; they really felt that Jennifer was not in the gang out of loyalty however only to look for vengeance on her stepfather. They refused because, at the time, non-gang participants (paisas) were not considered reputable targets.