Tegucigalpa, June 26 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Femicides in Honduras are epidemic with 12 women dying from gender-based violence out of every 100,000 residents, said the local Women’s Rights Center in a new study.

According to the World Health Organization, 8.8 deaths per 100,000 residents is enough to be categorized as an epidemic. Reports of such crimes have skyrocketed in recent years, with a 263 percent rise between 2005 and 2013. In 2013, one woman was murdered every 14 hours – 636 in total this particular year, added the rights group.

Yet, 94 percent of the crimes remain unpunished, Claudia Herrmannsdorfer, spokeswoman for the organization, told AFP.

The announcement coincided with Orange Day, as the United Nations declared every 25th of the month the Day to End Violence Against Women. This year marks also the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, the most progressive road map to gender equality. In June, the UN body defined the theme of Orange Day as “Where’s the money for initiatives to prevent and end violence against women and girls?.”

Many Central American countries are battling gender violence. U.N. Women reports that 14 of the 25 countries with the worst femicide rates are in Latin America, and especially the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Femicide also accounts for seven deaths in any 24-hour period in Mexico, with just 10 people sentenced for the crime from 2012-2013.

United Nations' figures show that around 66,000 women are killed every year worldwide, accounting for 17 percent of the all homicides.