The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) is a U.S.-based human rights non-profit organization. Established in 2004, it is a partnership of human rights advocates in Haiti and the United States dedicated to tackling the root causes of injustice that impacts basic human rights in Haiti. In partnership with its Haiti-based sister organization, the law firm Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), IJDH advocates, litigates, builds constituencies, and nurtures networks to create systemic pathways to justice for marginalized communities in Haiti.
November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, kicks off 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls. These appropriately culminate on Human Rights Day (December 10), as GBV “is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide.” As part of this global civil society mobilization, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) calls for urgent, sustained, and well-funded action to protect Haiti’s women and girls from violence and to support their leadership and equal enjoyment of human rights. #16Days of Activism should be just the start.
Haiti’s women and girls are facing catastrophic levels of violence, especially those who are poor or have vulnerable intersecting identities. Rape and other sexual violence are being deployed by gangs as a deliberate tool for disrupting Haiti’s social fabric. Protections are being dismantled by an illegitimate and corrupt government propped up by the international community. Always scarce resources are dwindling. And the humanitarian response is profoundly inadequate. Sexual exploitation and abuse – including by humanitarian actors – and pressures for transactional sex are rising. These harms reflect women’s unequal status in Haiti’s society as well as ongoing social, economic, and governance crises, which are in turn the product of colonialist legacies and structural racism.
In spite of the challenges they face, including political violence deployed to impede their full participation in public spaces, Haiti’s women and girls are also some of Haiti’s most valuable resources. A vibrant women’s movement has successfully mobilized to break down dictatorships and advance human rights. Women are key actors in responding to disasters and confronting climate insecurity; marshaling and deploying community resources; and organizing to provide critical services, especially for GBV. At the same time, they are the primary caregivers at home and the entrepreneurs who drive Haiti’s economy.
Haiti’s women and girls need only a little support and a reprieve from violence to finish their work of breaking down inequality and achieving stability and prosperity for their communities. This year’s global #16Days of Activism campaign recognizes that “the presence of a strong and autonomous feminist movement is the single most critical factor to drive policy change in ending violence against women and girls” even as “women’s rights organizations and autonomous feminist movements remain severely underfunded.” Those funding and action gaps need to close.
IJDH calls for these #16Days of Activism to be the start of a concerted movement to supply that support and solidarity, including through effective responses to GBV; gender-sensitive and accountable humanitarian assistance; and – just as critically – concerted efforts to support women’s leadership, enable women’s participation in decision-making, and center the specific needs of women and girls across every undertaking, all alongside active measures to include women and girls with marginalizing identities.
YOU CAN HELP, including by:
● LISTENING to Haitian women and girls and
SUPPORTING their efforts. IJDH and Haiti-
based feminist organization Nègès Mawon will
be publishing profiles of Haitian women leaders
and survivors during the #16Days of Activism
to uplift Haitian women’s voices. Look to the
IJDH website and social media accounts for
more.
● EDUCATING yourself about the situation
facing women and girls in Haiti and
MOBILIZING to support them. IJDH, its
Haiti-based partner the Bureau des Avocats
Internationaux (BAI), and several solidarity
collaborators have published reports with
specific recommendations for action. Read
them on the IJDH website under “Women’s
Rights.” They include submissions to the UN
Working group on discrimination against
women and girls; the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights; and the UN
Special Rapporteur on violence against women,
its causes and consequences.
● DONATING to organizations like IJDH and
BAI, Nègès Mawon, and others engaged in the
fight for the rights of Haitian women and girls.
