Women - Haiti Observer Blog

On Thursday, August 30, 2015, on a "Workshop for validating the draft Law on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of the Violence Against Women" the Prime Minister Evans Paul has announced that in a measure to prevent violence against women candidates, the Superior Council of the National Police will depute a police officer for the protection of each woman candidate in the coming legislative election.

The Prime Minister took this opportunity to welcome the partnership of different ministries and international partners involved in the development of this draft law. As of May 29th, females comprise approximately 8% of all candidates in the legislative elections-- only 151 women of the total 1800 candidates. It shows a gap between Haitian political policies and practice because the Haitian constitution requires political parties to meet a 30% quota for female candidates.

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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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On July 28, 2015, as part of a two day solo trip to Haiti, Chelsea Clinton visited Port-au-Prince with a group of investors and philanthropists to oversee the projects financed by the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation was founded by Bill Clinton after leaving the White House. Former President Bill Clinton has made nearly 36 trips to Haiti, for a total of 56 days since 2009.

As per foundation's statement, they have raised over $30 million since the devastating 2010 earthquake. However, such fund raisings became a subject of intense scrutiny since Hillary Rodham decided to run for the White House. During her trip, Chelsea met local farmers, artisans, hospital patients to gain a deeper understanding so that the foundation's initiatives can serve the intended beneficiaries in a better way. The mission of Chelsea's trip was to bring awareness on the effects of climate change, women's empowerment through education, developing and implementation of different health programs and economic growth. While overseeing projects financed by Clinton Foundation, she has encouraged women to educate themselves and learn how to become more independent. Chelsea Clinton also hosted a meeting with the foundation President Donna Shalala to talk about the role of Haitian women and their access to the market. After the meeting Shalala has said, Chelsea was impressed not just with the foundation's work, but with efforts by Haitian women to take control of their lives.

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Cervical cancer is a cancer of the cervix, it commonly occurs in women over the age of 30 when usually some abnormal cells on the cervix grow out of control which never die but continue to grow through cell division. It occurs by a group of virus called human papillomavirus, or HPV, through sexual contact, but can be successfully treated if it is identified and taken care of early. Cervical cancer is one of the main causes of cancer deaths in the world with a 50% mortality rate all around the world. It is also known as the 'disease of poverty' as it is more prevalent among the poor; 85% of cervical cancer occurs in the developing world alone.

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At the end of his term in office, President Michel Martelly suddenly feels desperate in regard to his legacy. For all the energies invested for the past five years it appears to him that history might not be kind to him after all. So at this point it appears that our President Michel Martelly can no longer hold his frustration. He is hungry, mad, insane, mentally ill, deranged, demented, sick in the head, crazed. This is the only way to explain his behavior last week as he went further than ever before in his insulting remarks toward the woman he was addressing n the crowd.

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According to Dr. Jean Ronald Cornelly Director of Oncology Program at the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Haiti cancer is a major health problem in Haiti. Women between the ages of 40 and 50 years have a bigger chance of dying from either cervical cancer and breast cancer than anything else.

Kreyol:

Eske nou konnin plis fanm mou ak Kanser ke tout lot bagay an Ayiti. Anpil fanm Ayisyen ki mouri, se pa Djab ki pran yo, se souvan yon kanser ki fini ak moun sa yo.

On 4th February, 2015, Dr. Jean Ronald Cornelly, the Director of Oncology Program at the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) has said that cancer, like globally, is a serious health threat in Haiti that needs immediate attention. Most of the cancer cases in women are cervical and breast cancers and commonly, it becomes life threatening between 40 and 50 years of age. Dr. Jean Cornelly while addressing on the World Cancer Day, has reminded that with cancer, Haiti has one of the highest incidence and mortality rate in the world, because we are not well equipped to diagnose the disease at the early stage and neither have we had structured program nor good treatment for the malady. He cited one recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) which suggests that as per regional statistics on the Latin American and Caribbean zone, Haiti has the highest incidence of this deadly disease. Out of 100,000 cases, 93.2 women suffer from cervical cancer and of that, 53.2 women dies from it. Dr Vincent De Gennaro, the Head of Internal Medicine for the project Medishare, has explained that the reason for such high mortality rate is that 80% of the patients never report until the disease is at an advanced stage.

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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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Haiti's Woman of Courage for 2014 is Ms. Colette Lespinasse. In her role as the Support Group for Returnees and Refugees' (GARR) coordinator, Ms. Lespinasse advocates the rights of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic who have been suffering from various injustices including the recent ruling that stripped many of their citizenship. Lespinasse officially received the honor at a ceremony held on Friday, March 21, 2014 at the United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

She received the award this year as the successor to 2013's recipient Marie Jossie Étienne. Étienne received the award for her contributions to the role of women in policy in the country as well as her work for decentralization. Lespinasse's honor deals more with the aspect of Haitian migration, certainly a hot topic with the current atmosphere. Both women, and other recipients of the award, are acknowledged not only for the work they do in the present, but for the impact it will have on the future. With GARR, Lespinasse is laying down the groundwork that will form the political and social life of women in the country going forward.

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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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