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Moving Forward in Post-Earthquake Haiti

The text below is a shortened version of a statement I recently delivered before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

We know that in the wake of disaster, women generally have less access to resources and are excluded from decision-making processes. This discrimination makes women and girls more vulnerable to the impact of disasters, including the specific conditions that give rise to sexual violence. Women and girls are also put at increased risk of rape by the collapse of social infrastructures, the erosion of family and community networks, inequitable access to social services, absence of law and order, lack of secure housing and dependence resulting from dislocation. All of these conditions have been rife since the earthquake in Haiti, creating a perfect storm of sexual violence that has spread across the displacement camps.

What is less knows is that in the face of these obstacles, grassroots women groups operating within displacement camps are mobilizing and developing innovative strategies to improve the lives and conditions of all Haitians. However, these groups are not being included in disaster preparedness plans and post-disaster needs assessments or in the planning of activities designed to mitigate gender-based violence. This exclusion has had a direct and profound impact on at-risk population and has also led to the misdirection of aid.

Because of this, as early as October, attorneys and grassroots groups submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The petition called on both the government of Haiti and international actors to take immediate action to:

• Ensure adequate and accessible medical and psychological care;
• Implement effective security measures;
• Ensure appropriate and adequate response to complaints of gender based violence;
• Investigate and prosecute instances of violence against women;
• Ensure meaningful participation of grassroots women's groups in leadership and planning of policies to combat and prevent violence.

On December 22nd, the Commission issued a decision in favor of the petitioners, highlighting the importance of respecting international human rights obligations, as well as the rights of the most vulnerable populations.

Haiti’s transition from disaster creates a unique opportunity to adopt strategies and policies for the establishment of the rule of law and the promotion of gender equality and gender justice. Moving forward, women’s participation and the inclusion of a gender perspective are essential to developing a sustainable and effective reconstruction process.

In addition, policies and practices of the U.S. and other donor states should help build the capacity and support the sovereignty of the Government of Haiti and the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission. To do so, international actors need to release the money pledged for Haiti, foster sustainable relationships between the Haitian government, UN agencies, and Haitian NGOs, and produce plans of action for ending gender-based violence.

New Report on the Impact of the 2010 Earthquake on the Haitian LGBT Community

A new report produced by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and SEROvie reveals the increase in violence and discrimiation against the Haitian LGBT community since last year's earthauqke. The paper documents various anti-LGBT human rights violations that have occured in Haiti since the earthquake and the loss of friend and family structures that had helped keep Haitian LGBT people safe. Their vulnerability is compounded by the fact that many much-needed security, health and community services were also devastated in the disaster.

As Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of IGLHRC said,

"UN Agencies, private organizations, and governments must recognize the horrible impact of the Haiti disaster on LGBT people...While earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes and other natural phenomena will continue to occur, there is nothing natural or inevitable about the ways in which LGBT people are denied equal access to housing, food and security that could mitigate the impact of such disasters."

To read the report in full, click here.

Our Message to KOFAVIV, Our Sister Organization in Haiti

Yesterday, to recognize the year that has passed since Haiti's earthquake and to express our ongoing committment to the women and girls of Haiti who have faced an escalating epidemic of sexual violence since the disaster, we sent this message to our sister organization in Haiti, KOFAVIV.  We wanted to share it with you so that we all can join together in honoring their work:

On the one year anniversary of the earthquake, MADRE stands with KOFAVIV and the women of Haiti as you bravely speak out against all forms of violence against women.

KOFAVIV’s tireless effort to ensure dignity and security for all Haitian women and girls is an inspiration to MADRE and our members worldwide. Your leadership in international women’s human rights advocacy strengthens this global movement and serves as a call to action for all people who believe in justice and peace.

We thank you for your courage, leadership and unwavering defense of human rights. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with an organization of such undeniable commitment. You are in our thoughts today and we will stand with you as you continue, through hope and hard work, to rebuild your lives and your country.

One Year After the Earthquake in Haiti

If you’ve read our last couple of blog entries and are keeping abreast on the news, you’ll know that today marks one year since the earthquake that devastated the nation of Haiti. One full year after the disaster, people in Haiti should not still face a faltering rebuilding effort and should not still be living by the millions in the camps for displaced people. But one year after the earthquake, Haiti remains under the rubble.

In the past year, Haitians have faced increasing political instability, a deadly cholera outbreak, and worsening conditions in the camps. Haitian woman and girls have been facing another crisis: an epidemic of sexual violence in the camps. In the past year, KOFAVIV, MADRE’s sister organization in Haiti, has documented 640 cases of rape in only 22 of the hundreds of IDP camps that currently exist in Haiti.

Two days ago I blogged about a new report released by MADRE, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the IWHR Clinic of CUNY School of Law, entitled Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women Continue to Fight Against Rape. As articulated in the report, MADRE and our Haitian sister organizations demand that: 

• Haitian women’s organizations be included in reconstruction efforts as required under international law,
• Donor States release the money pledged to Haiti and be held accountable to the people of Haiti,
• There be increased coordination between the Haitian government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti,
• The international community recommit to a Haitian-led reconstruction process that upholds human rights, and
• The United Nations, the government of Haiti, NGOs and Donor States uphold the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to ensure accessible medical and psychological care, implement effective security measures, respond to complaints of gender-based violence, end impunity to violence against women and ensure the participation of women in reconstruction efforts. 

By supporting MADRE and our sister organizations in Haiti, you can help demand that these recommendations be met. Over the past year, MADRE has also helped ensure that immediate aid be provided to the women of Haiti, including medical and legal assistance, humanitarian aid and tools like flashlights and whistles that give women and girls the means to deter rapists.

For more about MADRE’s programs in Haiti, click here.

Below, watch a very informative video of MADRE board member Marie St. Cyr discussing Haiti one year after the earthquake:

GRITtv: Marie St. Cyr: Time For a Plan For Haiti - Watch more Politics Videos at Vodpod.

"Marching for Change" Rally

Tomorrow marks one year since the Haiti eathquake, which killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions. One year later, the situation in Haiti remains dire. Millions of people still live in IDP camps with minimal shelter and inadequate security and lighting, and sexual violence has reached epidemic levels. Tomorrow, a “Marching for Change” rally will be held in New York City to highlight the unacceptably slow pace of reconstruction efforts and to demand that the Haitian government and the international community remain dedicated to helping the country and its people rebuild. The rally is being organized by our friends at Diaspora Community Services, and MADRE is a co-sponsor of the event.
If you are in the New York City area and want to partake in the rally:

The rally will be held from 2 PM to 5 PM, Wednesday, January 12, 2011
It will begin in Times Square at 42nd Street and Broadway. From there, it will proceed to the Haitian consulate on West 39th Street and Madison Avenue, and will end at the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 47th Street and 1st Avenue

For more information on the event, click here.

New Report On Sexual Violence in Haiti One Year After the Earthquake

Wednesday, January 12 marks one year since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people and displacing millions more. In the aftermath of the earthquake, as displaced people moved into overcrowded IDP camps lacking security and lighting, women and girls began to face an epidemic of sexual violence. Although gender-based violence (GBV) was already high in Haiti prior to the earthquake, after the disaster levels of sexual violence increased dramatically. Six months after the earthquake, MADRE, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), TransAfrica Forum and the Universities of Minnesota and Virginia law schools released a report, entitled Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women's Fight Against Rape, which documented the alarming levels of GBV in Haitian IDP camps - and the failure of the Haitian government, the United Nations and the international community at large in responding to the crisis.

In recognition of the one-year marker, MADRE, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the IWHR Clinic of CUNY School of Law released a one-year update on sexual violence in Haiti. The report, Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women Continue to Fight Against Rape, serves as a follow-up to the six-month report. This new report highlights the ongoing crisis of sexual violence in Haiti, and the continued lack of response. Despite Haitian women's tireless efforts to combat GBV in the camps, incidents of rape continue to rise. Events over the past year, including deteriorating conditions in the camps, a recent outbreak of cholera, political instability and persistent impunity for rape, have actually served to exacerbate insecurity for Haitian women and girls living in the camps.

MADRE continues to work with our partners in Haiti, KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), to combat this epidemic of sexual violence. Through programs that provide rape survivors with medical care and counseling, along with legal support, safe spaces, and tools like cell phones, flashlights and whistles, women and girls can be more readily protected from the threat of sexual violence. In concert with our efforts, the Haitian government and the international community must recommit themselves to a reconstruction effort in which Haitian women play a lead role in the implementation of policies that promote and uphold women's human rights.

To read the full report, click here.

 

Pakistani Women Giving Birth in Displacement Camps

While the water levels along the Swat River have returned to normal, the evidence of the devastation from the floods remains widespread. Roads, bridges, schools, water supply and sanitation systems are still affected. Recent reports by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) highlight the various diseases that have begun to spread since the floods: approximately 300,000 suspected malaria cases have been reported since the end of July, three flood-affected provinces have reported 99 cases of cholera, and an increase in dengue fever and a tick-borne viral disease have also been reported.

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank are estimating that the floods caused $9.5 billion in damage to Pakistan’s infrastructure. The floods severely damaged property, roads, buildings, irrigation systems and crops.  However, the damage the floods caused in Pakistan extend far beyond structural and material losses; they have created massive human suffering.  Some 20 million people have been displaced, many of whom are still residing in makeshift shelters.

Of those displaced, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that 70 percent are women, half a million of whom are now pregnant and facing giving birth in a country still recovering from the floods. While media coverage of the Pakistan floods has faded, the situation remains much the same for pregnant Pakistani women; in all likelihood these women will give birth in unsanitary conditions without the help of a skilled health professional.  Their children will be born to a country where the floods have made an already existing food and water crisis even worse.

MADRE maintains our commitment to the safety of these women and their children through work with our Pakistani ally organization, Shirkat Gah. Together we are providing women with clinics, women doctors, safe spaces, family planning education and relief supplies. Pakistani women still suffer from the aftermath of the floods, and you can still support local women’s relief efforts.

October: All About Haiti

This month at MADRE, we saw some major developments in our efforts in Haiti.

The first was a huge step in our campaign to make the sprawling tent encampments of Port-au-Prince safer for women and families who have been subsisting there all year. In response to the terribly high rates of rape and sexual violence being committed in the camps, MADRE filed a petition to the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. We called on the Commission to enact emerency measures to help prevent rape--namely, lighting and security in the camps. This is a top demand of our sisters in Haiti, and we are doing all we can to make sure that these basic safety provisions are put in place. (Click here to view the press release and read the petition.)
 
In the meantime, through MADRE's Helping Hands campaign, we sent another shipment of whistles to help our sisters protect themselves against rape. The sound of the whistle deters rapists and alerts others when a woman needs help. Click here to view a video of Haitian women discussing the whistles as a simple, but powerful tool in their fight against rape. 
 
Even before we had a chance to file our legal petition for emergency measures to prevent rape, another emergency struck: cholera. We wrote to you as soon as we heard that our partners at KOFAVIV were identifiying cases, bringing sick people for treatment and working double-time to educate women and families in the camps about how to contain the potentially deadly outbreak.

Thanks to MADRE members, we were able to respond to yet another crisis in Haiti this month and still move forward on our longer-term campaign of combating sexual violence in the camps

Why No One Should Die of Cholera

On the occasion of my first post as a MADRE blogger, let me talk frankly about poop--more specifically, diarrhea. While in the West we may think of it as a schoolyard song or a day-ruining embarrassment, in poor areas of the world, it is actually terrifying. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 2.2 million people per year die from diarrhea--  a staggering four percent of annual deaths worldwide. And cholera--a waterborne bacterial infection--is one of its most common causes. Once cholera strikes, a patient can become dehydrated quickly, and if untreated, die within hours.

The disease, though, is heartbreakingly easy to prevent. Why? Well, for the same reason it's such a ruthless killer: it's all about access to clean water. Quite simply--since cholera lives in water--if you have access to clean water, you probably won't get cholera. If you don't, you're constantly at risk. On top of that, the disease only manifests itself in about 25% of those infected, and because it can take up to two weeks to make its presence known, it can be difficult to detect until it's too late. But when you look at the recommended methods of preventing cholera, you get a pretty good idea of why cholera is virtually unheard of in the Global North, but is a constant threat in the Global South: as I alluded to above, the best prevention methods are drinking clean water, handwashing, and using clean sanitary facilities.

You can connect the dots: it's a perfect disease of the world's poor. There's no reason anyone in this age should die of something so preventable, but without access to clean water, people in the Global South are sitting ducks.

The reason I say this, of course, is that relief agencies and the Haitian government are bracing for a cholera epidemic to reach the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. Once there, it could devastate people uprooted by January's earthquake; still living in displacement camps. In short, prevention only works to contain an outbreak if people have the right resources, and enough of them. And Haiti just doesn't have enough-- while impressive public education campaigns are being mounted and supplies are being distributed, officials are planning for cholera to be a big problem in Haiti for the coming months.

But it's not as dire as it could be. Even though clean water and sanitation (and therefore, the most effective preventative measures) are unavailable to many Haitians, treatment is comparably simple and much more available. Treatment of cholera involves early detection, and an IV drip of simple electrolytes, sometimes accompanied by antibiotics. It's inexpensive and effective. And it can be done on a fairly large scale.

If Haiti can make it through this epidemic without the displacement camps being decimated, it will be a success of emergency efforts to contain and treat cholera. But emergency efforts aren't, in the long run, going to cut it for Haiti. Along with earthquake reconstruction will need to come serious investment in Haiti's water infrastructure. And the US has not been a good-faith player in Haiti's natural resource development in the past: our government has consistently supported anti-democratic forces and foreign control of Haiti's agricultural infrastructure. In 2000, the Bush Administration pressured the Inter-American Development Bank to cancel more than $650 million in development assistance and approved loans to Haiti -- money that was slated to pay for not only safe drinking water, but also literacy programs and health services, both of which also fight infectious disease. 

The cholera epidemic is yet another reminder about post-earthquake Haiti: stopgaps aren't going to work. Once the threat of disease has been eliminated, let's get the problem at its source (no pun intended) and fund development that helps Haitians and not large American businesses. People shouldn't have to die from cholera, and it's in our government's power to help make that a reality for Haiti.

In Fight Against Femicide, Whistles Win

Diana and Lisa’s recent trip to Haiti reminded us of the remarkable power in a simple tool: a plastic whistle.  During their visit, women from KOFAVIV, an organization founded by and for rape survivors, gathered in circles, singing, clapping, and dancing in place as brightly-colored whistles bounced from lanyards around their necks.  The whistles, which the women blow in three long bursts to alert each other of attack, are a security lifeline in camp residents’ fight against a continuing epidemic of sexual violence.

“Personally,” said one, “I feel like I am a strong, fearless woman when I have my whistle, especially when other women are responding with their own whistle.  We stand tall to run after these men who think they can take control.”  Women and girls of all ages, many of whom lost family members and support systems in the devastating quake, often face  isolated walks on unlit paths patrolled by violent gangs, and recent reports (including MADRE’s own, co-authored with IJDH) also list numerous incidents of attackers entering their tents or dragging them off in broad daylight.  Yet camp residents repeat that simple whistles and flashlights continue to play a key role in their independently-formed, women-run security patrols’ success against the violence.

Our new initiative to collect and distribute these lifesaving tools dovetails with MADRE’s continuing campaign to bring more of those same flashlights and whistles to the women of Guatemala. There, gender-motivated violence has reached such epidemic levels -- 4,000 women murdered in the last ten years, and the number continues to rise -- that feminist and human rights workers around the world have recognized it as a strategy of “femicide”.  In the face of a similar lack of police protection and government intervention, flashlights and whistles collected and sent by our Helping Hands team provide Guatemalan women with the power to take back their own right to security.

We know that these are only temporary measures. More lasting solutions must come from government policies that prioritize ending violence against women. They must come from post-disaster reconstruction policies that place women's voices at the center. But we also know that whistles can save women's lives today. Click here or email us at helpinghands@madre.org to find out more.