LACK OF SECURITY IN HAITIAN DISPLACED PERSON CAMPS LEADS TO ESCALATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                     Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Nearly 1 million people remain homeless in Haiti, living in the squalid displacement camps while they await permanent housing.   The lack of patrols, security measures, and simple utilities such as doors, make the camps dangerous for women.  The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti has been accused of avoiding the camp interiors “generally (staying) on the perimetre of camps,” instead of going into the areas where women’s lives are actually at risk, especially at night,” says rape coordinator Annie Gell. 

Cramped displacement camps where nearly 1 million remain homeless pose a security risk for sexual violence against women.
Cramped displacement camps where nearly 1 million remain homeless pose a security risk for sexual violence against women.

Each day, women and young girls fight to survive from rape, attacks or sexual violence into prostitution.  Last week, MADRE (a women’s advocacy group) testified in front of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Bureau des Avocats Internationaux’s coordinator of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project in Port-au-Prince, Annie Gell stressed the need for and lack of security in the displaced persons camps. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights (MCFDF) has been in place since 1994, and continues to address the issue of gender based violence in Haiti. 

Testimony provided to the United Nations stressed the importance of patrolling and security forces among the displaced persons camps in Port-Au-Prince.  According to Gell, there are “More women coming forward to report rapes and GBV.”  While she acknowledged that the large number and size of camps made it difficult to monitor and protect women due to overcrowding, she also emphasized that “a lot of people are moving out of camps because they’re so insecure, so dangerous.”  

In large part, UNPOL’s (trained peacekeeping forces) and the National Haitian Police play a large role in safety.  Gender unit officer, Marie Francoise Vital Metellus, told IPS the UNPOL’s purpose is to patrol camps and assist victims of gender based violence.

Grassroots groups are promoted as the solution to many of these problems.

One such organization is KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), a grassroots Haitian organization which provides support and aid to victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence.  KOFAVIV is one of the many groups which supported the testimony of women activists at a March 25 hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 

These groups have been consistently disappointed with the United Nations inability and refusal to work with grassroots organizations to confront the sexual violence prevalent in the camps.  The UN “is not working with the grassroots groups.” Gell is quoted as saying, “We’re (thus) hoping … that the commission will reinforce that the grassroots groups’ voices must be included in planning sessions to end sexual violence.”

This is especially important because of the need for prosecution tools in the country.  In Haiti, suspects actions have no consequences.

Photo Courtesy of Ecosalon.com.  For More Information Please Visit:

IPS – Women Turn Spotlight on Haiti’s Silent Rape Epidemic – 29 March 2011

MADRE – International Human Rights Hearing on Rape Epidemic in Haiti – 23 March 2011

Advocates Testify at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights – 25 March 2011

Author: Impunity Watch Archive