Today, MADRE is joining with other human rights organization to submit a legal petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Partnering with local Haitian organizations, this petitions asks that the IACHR require the Haitian government and other key institutions to install lighting, increase security and institute other measures to confront the epidemic of sexual violence against women and girls in the camps.
A press release we sent out this morning has more:
Today, a group of advocates and attorneys for displaced women in Haiti submitted a petition calling for urgent action to confront an epidemic of sexual violence in the camps for displaced people. Evidence gathered through multiple on-the-ground investigations has revealed a shocking pattern of rape, beatings and threats against the lives of women and girls living in the camps. This petition for precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls for the IACHR to require that the government of Haiti and the international community take such immediate action as ensuring security and installing lighting in the camps.
Since the catastrophic January 12 earthquake took some 200,000 lives and rendered 1.5 million people homeless, women and girls living in the camps have faced bleak conditions and a constant threat of rape. Lawyers and researchers, partnering with Haitian grassroots women’s groups, have documented testimonies where women have been brutally attacked in their tents or while walking down poorly-lit paths within the camps. Meanwhile, basic preventative measures such as providing lighting, privacy, security and housing have been critically lacking.
This is one step in a larger process of demanding accountability and action to protect women's lives in the camps for displaced people in Haiti. Haitian grassroots women's groups, such as MADRE's partner KOFAVIV, daily confront the reality of the threat of rape and have created short-term solutions to save lives now--distributing whistles to deter rapists, organizing neighborhood watch groups and more. But their efforts must be amplifed by a broader, international effort to condemn this violence and to implement policy changes that ensure women's safety.
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