Sexual violence - Haiti Observer Blog

President Martelly of Haiti is an unabashed sexist. At a campaign rally Martelly insulted a woman, who complained his administration had neglected to provide her community with power service. His response to her was to go have sex in the bushes with any available man.

Fusion Social Democrats', Edmonde Beauzile, responded to Martelly's comment by ordering removal, under his party's coalition, three of Martelly's officials, two ministers and the secretary of state. He. called Martelly's remark "unacceptable". The Martelly government, unfazed by Beauzile's move, knows Martelly can still govern without difficulty. He currently rules by decree, and can say and do pretty much as he pleases. Also a lame duck president leaving office soon, another reason he can be outrageous with impunity.

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As far back as 1996, Haitian women, at the rate of 70%, have admitted to suffering some form of violence. Whether domestic violence or sexual abuse, Haiti's women are prone to abuse not just from spouses and loved ones, but also from authority figures, as in the cases found in IDP camps. But while the women are vocal about their struggles with abuse, men are largely unwilling to admit to inflicting this kind of suffering, so the numbers are decidedly unbalanced. Furthering the awesomeness of the reality, the men in this initial study were of the opinion that, at times, domestic violence or assault and battery was necessary and justifiable.

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Sexual violence against women in Haiti is widespread and has a long history. There are records of women being raped by soldier that arrived in Haiti with Christopher Columbus from 1492.

When Haiti was the French colony known as Saint-Domingue (1625 - 1789) rape was a popular method of torture in the slavery based economy. Sexual violence was also rife during the Haitian Revolution (1789 - 1804) and the American occupation of Haiti (1915 - 1934).

In an effort to suppress political opposition, thousands of women were subjected to sexual violence during the dictatorships of Francois Duvalier, Jean-Claude Duvalier and Raoul Cedras, in the 20th century.

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