From DRC to Haiti

Even though we are now in DRC we have not forgotten about Haiti. It is curious to see the similarities found within both countries. One of Tearfund's partner organizations, Restored, just posted on their blog an article I wrote on Gender- based violence in Haiti. I have posted the article found from their website below. click here to see the Restored website. One countries response to gender-based violence maybe different then anothers. Yet at the heart of both is the power behind a restoration of relationships.


Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Haiti

Following the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, sexual violence has emerged as a key issue for women living in camps. In this guest blog, Monica Verhaege, who works with Tearfund in DRC, describes how one community has demonstrated how women and men together can develop an effective response:

Tens of thousands of people died in the earthquake that rocked Haiti in January of 2010. Hundreds of thousands more were left displaced, with an estimated 1.2 million people in makeshift camps within Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. In one camp in the Darbonne region of Leogane, near the epicentre of the quake, gender-based violence issues came out of focus group discussions on hygiene and health. Women from this region reported that they were afraid to go outside their tents at night because rape was so common in their area. The women also reported that they had stopped using latrines after sunset. Sexual violence was a barrier to good health for this impromptu community, as well as many others like it.

One woman stated, (translated from Creole):

‘Gang rape is very common here because many men drink too much and then wander through the camps looking for women. The camps have no protection and security to offer. Sometimes you can hear women scream for help at night but no one comes, because everyone is afraid.’

The community themselves, men and women together, brainstormed about solutions to address this issue with the hygiene team. The first solution that came out was to form a security committee whose main role was to protect women and girl children throughout the day and night. However, the security committee suggested that they receive some form of self-defence and security training before they undertook this task. When the women from the community heard this request from the security committee they too wanted to have self-defence training for themselves. One teenage girl said, (translated),

‘We should all know how to defend ourselves. Security involves every person. We are all part of the security committee now.’

The hygiene team partnered with a security team from another NGO and trained the camp’s security committee in addition to the large group of women in the community who also wanted self-defence training. The training focused on how to reduce the risk of sexual violence, how to prevent violent situations from occurring, and the importance of walking with others, especially with members of the security teams, when going to the latrines at night. All of the female participants chose a partner in small groups and began learning and demonstrating their newfound self-defence techniques. The women laughed as they started actually practicing the self-defence moves. It was a huge success. Many women reported that the training gave them the knowledge they needed to keep them and their families safe. Within the camp, the training sparked healthier and more respectful relationships between men and the women as the community participated in their own solution to insecurity and sexual violence. This solution required both men and women to act together in order to prevent the violence and to achieve more harmonious and restored relationships.