Social cohesion in contexts of violence against women: evidence from Honduras and implications for public policy.

This cross-sectional, descriptive study assesses social cohesion among women in Honduras using microdata from the 2022 First National Specialized Survey on Violence Against Women and Girls (ENESVMN). Utilizing a multidimensional framework, the analysis examines relational, institutional, and normative variables based on an effective sample of 5,962 interviewed women. The normalized-weight results show that 27.1% (nominal 95% CI: 26.02-28.28) of participants exhibit high social cohesion, 26.6% (95% CI: 25.50-27.74) exhibit moderate cohesion, and 46.3% (95% CI: 45.00-47.53) exhibit low cohesion. On a municipal scale, the Central District concentrates the highest proportions across all cohesion levels, at 19.1%, 14.7%, and 12.4%, respectively. These findings show cohesion divided fairly evenly between high and moderate levels, with low cohesion as the single largest category within the analyzed sample, a pattern that the literature on welfare regimes in Central America associates with precarious social stability under conditions of structural violence and institutional absence. Building on this evidence and the broader literature on welfare regimes in Central America, the study argues that strengthening social cohesion is likely to require a more redistributive public sector, including fiscal reform. Such structural change, supported by a progressive tax system, is essential to facilitate effective wealth redistribution through social policies that have remained historically underdeveloped in the country. These results contribute to the literature on social order in high-violence contexts and offer critical insights for demographic policy and public management in Central America.