Women and Girls in Haiti Face Violence, Loss of Key Advocates

As expected, the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti has left women in a particularly precarious position.

The Washington Post reports on men stealing women's food coupons at knife point, fears regarding the violent prisoners who escaped during the quake, rape and the potential for the spread of HIV/AIDS, and sexual intimidation of women and girls while bathing. The fact is, Haiti's women were in a vulnerable position before the disaster -- for instance, rape was only recently criminalized in 2005, and 72% of women and girls reported being the victims of rape before the catastrophe -- and things have quickly gone downhill from there. Some efforts had been made by the government to improve women's rights in the country, but the new Women's Ministry is one of the buildings that went down in the quake.

The deaths of three women considered key players in the fight against sexual violence have also dashed many hopes for gender justice. Myriam Merlet, chief of staff for the Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women, founded Enfofamn, which collects and promotes women stories, fighting for women's rights through the media. Anne Marie Coriolan, the founder of Solidarity with Haitian Women, was a driving force behind finally getting rape treated as a crime. And Magalie Marcelin, the founder of a domestic violence services organization, once kept an abusive husband from walking free by calling on women to fill the court, staring down the judge that might give into the man's political clout.

With these setbacks, a close eye will need to be keep on the situation of women in Haiti -- not just now, at the height of the emergency, but also once the last of the media attention has found something new to fill the headlines.

Photo credit: USAD_IMAGES