When disaster or war strikes, women and girls are often the worst affected. Haiti is apparently no exception. It’s a country where sexual violence was rife before January’s earthquake, and aid agencies are now reporting that the number of rapes is soaring in the aftermath of last month’s disaster.
With the country’s infrastructure almost non-existent, women have little or no protection. There are no police to report crime to or expect help from, and only a few over-stretched hospitals. Aid agencies are doing their best to help, but the problem is huge. Women are sheltering under nothing but tarpaulins and bed sheets, and girls as young as six months are being targeted.
Melanie Brooks is a media coordinator at charity CARE International, which is part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). She says women are most vulnerable at night, with thousands of people packed into makeshift camps under flimsy shelters and sleeping “cheek by jowl”.
Melanie spoke to Hannah, a nurse who sleeps in a makeshift tent in a crowded camp in Pacot, one of the most dangerous spontaneous camps that has sprung up in the city of Port-au-Prince after the quake. She said, “Young men come with weapons, and rape the women. They haven’t reported it, because the services don’t exist anymore. The hospitals, the police – everything was destroyed in the earthquake.”
The streets are dark because there’s no electricity, the camps are crowded and the bathing and toilet areas are unprotected, leaving women and girls particularly vulnerable to harassment and sexual violence. Husbands and brothers try to provide protection, and women pass whispered warnings to each other.
Hannah said women in the camps feel like they are always waiting for something to happen. “In my family, there is always someone keeping watch outside while the others sleep. I have a five-year-old daughter, and I’m terrified for her. They have no pity. There are men who rape girls as young as six months old in Haiti.”
And in rural areas, there is the added fear of escaped convicts from the collapsed prison roaming the countryside.
Melanie also spoke to 23-year-old Rachelle, who said, “There’s nothing we can do. There’s no protection. Men have started following us to the street to watch us bathe. We are afraid they will come back at night.”
The women need tents to be safe, female-only bathing facilities in a well-lit area, and separate toilets for men and women. CARE says it is working to meet those needs, but it is a long-term solution to the plague of sexual violence in Haiti that is crucial.
Janet Meyers, Senior Advisor for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Emergencies, said, “In the short-term, we need to make confidential clinical services available to treat survivors of rape including psychosocial support and security. Women need to know where they can get these services. At the same time we must do all we can to prevent it. Sexual violence was a problem in Haiti before the earthquake and we know it increases in these types of situations.
“After the earthquake, everyone is sleeping in camps. They have enough problems, without this fear as well.”
Image via CARE/Evelyn Hockstein