Woman - Haiti Observer Blog

Before I go on, I want to make this clear: Yes, many women in the Haitian society have been raised with an inferiority complex as to men. Unfortunately, it was thought to them by their parents who did not know any better. Many Haitian women have been raised to believe that the man is God, unable to do anything wrong. They were also thought to accept almost anything from the man.

This time is long gone and thanks to the improvement in technology and communication, every single woman in any corner of the world knows better now. Economic issues or not; with consideration for children, family, society or not, they have learned that their self worth is more important.

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Chair Senator Steven Benoit of the Senatorial Commission oversaw the review of 34 applicants for positions as Councillors of the Superior Courts of Auditors (CSC/CA). The current CSC/CA's terms expired last July 2013. The deaths of Councillors Lionel Bernard and Guy Manigat had reduced the auditing body to eight members rather than the required 10.

The review, including hearings, took two weeks to finish, and the CSC/CA now contains eight new and two re-appointed members. The re-appointed members are President Nonie Mathieu and Advisor Henriette Arol Elijah. The remaining new members are Robert Fritz, Jean Joseph, Just Monprevil, France Mondesir, Mehu Neltha, Marie Fethiere, Rogavil Boisguene, and Volmar Desmessyeux. Member of the Commission, Joycelerme Privert, explained the re-appointment of two CSC/CA members as a way to retain a sense of continuity and help orient the new members to the requirements and duties of CSC/CA.

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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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The National Police of Haiti (NPH) are fulfilling the mandate of the government of Haiti's Development Plan of 2012-2016 NPH. It has graduated the first class of police cadets, a total of 1,058, 111 of them female.

The new graduates went through a strenuous program, logging in 507 hours on the topics of police science and human rights under international law, as well as 538 hours of training in traffic management, self-defense techniques, first aid, and weapons use. The program ran nine months.

Since the NPH training program began in 1995, it is only the second instance that such a large graduating class has been prepared in such a brief span of time. It is also the largest number of female cadets graduated, 10% of total enrollment. Godson Orélus, NPH Director General, wants that the numbers of female cadets be increased significantly in each succeeding class.

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Civic leader and Haitian-American, Lucie Tondreau, has become North Miami's first female mayor. She beat incumbent Kevin Burns with nearly two-thirds of the vote, in an uncontested election.

Seven-year old Lucie and her family escaped Haiti in 1967 during the violent dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier. They relocated to Montréal where Lucie grew up. After traveling in the Caribbean and Africa, Lucie returned to New York and worked as a journalist, becoming deeply involved in the Haitian Diaspora community. She hosted both her own television and radio programs, and wrote on Diaspora issues.

Lucie eventually realized she could be of more service to Haitians arriving in Miami, who needed help assimilating. She re-settled permanently in Miami, and became a champion for voting and human rights issues. She also participated in delivering aid support to survivors when natural disasters occurred in Miami (a hurricane) and Haiti (the earthquake), in 2005 and 2010.

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When Haiti's 2010 earthquake struck, the country lost more than hundreds of lives of its population; it lost its feminist leaders. Courageous, intelligent women such as Myriam Merlet of Eufofanm, Magalie Maralin of Kay Fanm, and Anne Marie Coriolan of SOFA. With their deaths, women's voices have become muted.

Modern Haitian feminist organizations were formed after Jean-Claude Duvalier was ousted in 1986. Their aim was to advocate for all women, regardless of economic status. Feminists were very proactive during periods of military rule or foreign occupation on the island, exposing atrocities being committed on women's bodies. Some of the crimes included rape, amputation, and other forms of brutality and humiliation. These acts were done to empower political factions and foreign interests seeking to rule or occupy Haiti.

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Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe recently made his love life public, announcing that he shares a relationship with the Czech supermodel, Petra Nemcova.

Premye Minis Laurent Lamothe dènyèman fè konnin Li renmin avek Petra Nemcova.

Now it's no longer a rumor. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe is now dating Haiti's Honorary Consul to the Czech Republic and supermodel Petra Nemcova. The Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and Petra Nemcova had been dating for months. It only became more obvious recently then the two were spotted at the ceremonies of the Association of Caribbean States 5th summit that took place in Petion-Ville, Haiti

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New elections in Haiti mean rewriting the electoral law. The body that does this task is the Transitional College of the Permanent Electoral Council. Its job is also to review proposals submitted by different segments of Haitian society: the Diaspora, political factions, citizen and women's organizations.

One of the proposals submitted is for enforcement of the 30% quota amendment written into the amended 1987 Constitution. This means at least one-third of women must fill positions within the government of Haiti.

Ministers of Women's Issues, Yanick Mézile, and President of the Commission on Women's Rights, Jossie Etienne, are authors of the proposal. Some signatories for the proposal include Fanm Yo La, Women for Democracy, and SOFA.

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Haiti, which suffers from the worst poverty in the western Hemisphere, frequent natural disasters, and an inconstant government, has been more prone to gender-based violence (GBV). In the first years following Aristide's expired second-term, 35,000 women were raped in a power grab for political dominance. And Haiti's history discloses that in the aftermath of 60 rulers over-thrown or assassinated, many rapes occurred as a result of the violence.

Statistics gathered by non-government organization (NGO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), documented that Haiti experiences one of the highest percentages of GBV perpetrated on women. An alarming 72% of young Haitian girls have been sexually assaulted. Another NGO, Inter-American Commission on Human rights, discovered that 90%-plus Haitian women have experienced some variation of violent assault on their persons.

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The government of Haiti (GOH) guarantees women many basic civil rights, but in truth the female gender suffers blatant discrimination in many areas. The island, unlike many developed countries, remains a steadfastly patriarchal nation. Although many laws exist that acknowledge women's parity with men, they are not well-written and unlikely to be enforced.

The GOH does not take seriously any of the legal protections afforded women for gender equality. It has signed many international conventions, yet Haiti is listed as 158th among187 countries surveyed under the Human Development Index.

In social, work, finance, and family matters contradictions appear between what is written and what is practiced. For example, the social role of men is as leader of the family, empowered to make all financial decisions. But statistically, 42% of women are the primary decision-makers in their homes. In work situations, women's labor is subsidiary to males, frequently resulting in no wages due to their inferior social status.

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