Nearly ten months after the earthquake, Haitians still live in a state of emergency. I saw this in person during my recent trip to Haiti, where I met with leaders of our sister organization KOFAVIV.
During my stay, I heard the first-hand testimonies of women who have been raped while living in the camps. As one camp resident explained, “People rape older women, younger women, and kids. We need security and lighting…but the people who are doing security don’t get paid…they are discouraged.”
KOFAVIV told us again that sexual, domestic and gang violence in the camps have increased and that both security and lighting in the camps are barely present. This is a reality that we have worked with KOFAVIV to document for months and that continues to threaten women’s lives. Indeed, just the night before my arrival a 15-year-old girl had been raped by a police officer in the camp.
I also witnessed first-hand the valuable and powerful work that KOFAVIV is doing to promote women’s health. The day that I arrived in Port-au-Prince, KOFAVIV held a training on maternal health care for women who had recently given birth or were currently pregnant as a result of rape. (Photo at left: MADRE Human Rights Advocacy Director Lisa Davis and I at the maternal health training.)
Even before the earthquake, pregnancy in Haiti was dangerous and risky. Now, with women and girls facing the threat of rape in the camps and enduring the health related consequences of the attacks, KOFAVIV is working to ensure that pregnant women get the care they need. General healthcare in the camps is already insufficient, and women receive limited prenatal care only through mobile and temporary clinics. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the recent cholera outbreak, coupled with high incidence of HIV, the shortage of clinics and experienced doctors in childbirth, and a lack of basic sanitation means that thousands of pregnant Haitian women may face pregnancy-related complications.
It was heartbreaking and infuriating to see conditions that women are forced to endure in the camps, especially when grassroots women’s groups have already identified simple solutions – such as increasing lighting and police presence in the camps, and adopting a gendered perspective to relief efforts – that can create drastic improvements.
But all the while, I was inspired by KOFAVIV’s determination to demand that these solutions be implemented and by the life-saving support that they provide. KOFAVIV is continuously and relentlessly working to improve conditions for displaced women and girls in Haiti, and we at MADRE are committed to support them in this effort.
For more information:
- Our Bodies Are Still Trembling (PDF) – July 2010
- Legal Petition Submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (PDF) – October 2010
- myMADRE Blog Entries on Haiti
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