Ce rapport au Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations unies par une coalition d’organisations féministes haïtiennes porte sur la condition des femmes et plus particulièrement, sur la question des violences faites aux femmes. Il décrit les obstacles rencontrés par les victimes de violences sexuelles et familiales pour accéder à la justice ainsi que les facteurs qui nuisent à la participation politique des femmes et bafouent leurs droits civils, puis il formule des recommandations. (Résumé par Mouka)

The International Development Committee’s (IDC) inquiry into sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and related misconduct in the humanitarian sector is welcomed. This submission addresses the IDC’s examination of the measures and suggests changes necessary to establish effective safeguarding policies and processes.

The past few decades have seen an explosion of writing by women from the Caribbean. From Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Trinidad - women of African, European, and mixed ancestry have explored and manipulated their complex matrix: of languages and subtle linguistic codes; of folk traditions and formal English schooling; of vital politics and tormented histories; of intoxicating natural beauty and devastating poverty. They have written of mothertongues and motherlands, of exile, of the boundaries of bodies, of the politics of owning and not owning themselves.

Strongly prized in the oral tradition, whatever the social level of a Haitian, he uses the proverbs either to argue or to justify a behavior. Being described as the expression of the wisdom of the Haitian people, proverbs are also tainted with stereotypes. They have the po- wer to determine the place of man and woman in a society. In spite of the efforts expended to fight against inequalities between man and woman in Haitian society, the situation fails to change.

This paper explores the possible existence of organic reproductive justice actions among enslaved mothers and pregnant women in colonial Haiti (Saint Domingue) with specific focus on how marronnage – escape from slavery – provided them opportunities to exert power over their lives, bodies and biological reproduction. Reproductive justice is defined as the complete well‐being of women and girls, based on their human right to decide when and how to have – or not have – children, and to parent existing children in safe and sustainable communities.

Gender is deemed a social construct and is commonly overlooked in economic conversations (Padgett and Warnecke 2011). However, there are critical intersections between gender and economic maturation. Additionally, gender relations in Haiti demote women to the positionality of the “most marginalized” in the country with the fewest liberties yet the greatest socio-economic responsibilities. Thus, rural women are disproportionately affected by most disparities, inclusive of the economic implications in Haiti.

“A must-read report… you will be inspired.”-- Edwidge Danticat, author, Breath, Eyes, Memory.

Ce texte propose une réflexion sur les luttes pour l’égalité des femmes en Haïti. Pour cela, l’auteur fait appel à certaines définitions connues de mouvements féministes, aux mouvements existants, ainsi qu’aux actions menées depuis 1804. La participation féminine aux luttes a permis de réaliser plusieurs gains et de placer la condition féminine dans les priorités du pays.

This thesis examines the subject of gender based violence (GBV) in Haiti and how local and international organizations are adressing the issus on multiple levels. Due to historical political and economic factors, the earthquake that struck the country on January 12th 2010 had devastating impacts. The earthquake worked as a catalyst that revealted deep underlying gender fault lines that had developed over long periods of time.