What Can We Learn From The Most Vulnerable?

October 28, 2015

By Elise Ditta, Director of Communications for ASJ-US

I can recite the Association for a More Just Society’s goal backwards and forwards, to be “Brave Christians trying to make the system of laws and government work for the most vulnerable…”, but sometimes as I sit in my air-conditioned cubicle day after day, I forget what this really means.

What does it mean to be vulnerable in Honduras? Often it means living on the edge of the city, perched on a mountainside with no access to public services like water or electricity. It means not knowing where your next meal will come from. It means dealing with shockingly inadequate healthcare services, if there are any at all. And it often means living in fear, not knowing where to turn when you’re a victim of violent crime.

All of these things are realities for Clara* and her four children. When my coworker, lawyer Cristian Rivera, and I visited Clara in her two-room home, she described this last reality vividly as she recounted the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when she caught her husband sexually abusing their 12-year-old daughter, Marta. She knew she couldn’t let the abuse continue, but she didn’t know where to turn. Poor Hondurans like Clara rarely look for help from police who too often act as criminals themselves. And Clara’s poverty made her extra vulnerable, Cristian notes, “In many cases, women won’t report their husbands because they are the ones supporting them financially.”

But Clara told us how she refused to give up, knowing she had to protect her daughter. She made her way to the Public Prosecutor’s office to report her husband. They took down her testimony but didn’t act, another too common result of a justice system where poor victims cannot afford to pay a lawyer to push the case forward.

But Clara and Marta found an ally in the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ, formerly known as AJS). When Cristian and psychologist Ada Doblado heard about the case, they worked quickly to remove Marta from the home. Her father was still living there, and she was in danger. After taking this immediate step, ASJ worked with police detectives to gather forensic and witness evidence and obtained an arrest warrant. Marta’s father was convicted in June of last year and is now in prison.

Justice for people like Marta and Clara is rare in a country like Honduras, but ASJ victories in this case, and dozens like it, show that justice for vulnerable people is possible. I have seen over and over again that vulnerability does not mean cowardice. It just means that individuals don’t have access to the system of justice and security like many others do. My coworkers at ASJ act as the bridge to justice for many vulnerable but brave people who believe they deserve what we all deserve—our government’s protection from those who wish to harm us.

And Marta, despite the horrors she suffered, is excited to move forward, “I want to be a doctor!” she says, and then her little brother pipes up, “I want to be a lawyer!” This makes Clara and Christian laugh with delight. A delight that comes from months of working as a team of brave advocates so that Marta can hope again.

*Name changed to protect individual’s privacy and security.

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ASJ-US and ASJ-Canada Joint Statement on Honduran Elections

December 2, 2025

ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US

Artisans of Fraternity, Guardians of Hope

November 28, 2025

A call to action for Honduras

November 2025 ASJ-US Statement about Honduran Elections

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 25, 2025

The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025

Context Updates on the 2025 Elections in Honduras

November 13, 2025

Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections

HOPE

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 12, 2025

Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.