Gender and Violence in Haiti: Women's Path from Victims to Agents

7. Women in the Aftermath of the Earthquake

137 7 Women in the Aftermath of the Earthquake On January 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, devastating the capital of the country, Port-au Prince, and several other cities. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians died, approximately the same number were injured, and more than a million lost their homes and have been living in the 1,300 displacement camps around the country ever since. Extreme poverty and desperation were coupled with sexual violence affecting the women and girls who survived the natural disaster. The earthquake and its dramatic consequences exacerbated the already arduous conditions for Haitian women and girls as well as violently undermining the precarious capacity and functionality of national institutions, including the government , law enforcement, and the judicial system. In addition to Port-au-Prince and much of its surrounding countryside, the quake severely affected other areas of the country, including the cities of Petit Goave, Grand Goave, and Leogane in the western part of the country , the town of Jacmel in the South East department, and the town of Miragoane in the Nippes region. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives, and about three million people—one-third of Haiti’s population— were affected. The United Nations and the Haitian government estimated that the death toll was between 250,000 and 300,000; an equal number of Haitians were injured or permanently disabled, and 1.5 million were left homeless (Cullen and Ivers 2010, 61). More than 600,000 individuals fled Port-au-Prince to safer rural areas and provincial towns such as Gonaives , Saint-Marc, Cap-Haitien, Hince, and Les Cayes, encumbering local 138 GENDER AND VIOLENCE IN HAITI communities (Amnesty International 2010, 6). Schools, hospitals, houses, offices, shops, the presidential palace, the cathedral, and the headquarters of the UN mission collapsed. Seismologists had long warned about the probability of earthquakes on the island of Hispaniola (which comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic). In fact, the island sits on the Gonaives microplate, a small strip of the earth’s crust that compresses the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. In 1946, the Dominican Republic suffered a severe earthquake , but the 2010 Haitian disaster was more devastating. Its epicenter was just fifteen miles southwest of Port-au-Prince and it began only eight miles below ground, quickly reaching the surface with full force. The shaking was felt as far away as eastern Cuba; a series of powerful aftershocks continued throughout the following few days. This last chapter examines women’s and girls’ struggles in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. In particular, it focuses on the grievous conditions in the displacement camps, conditions that foster the genderbased violence and abuse that is often perpetrated by members of armed groups or prison escapees. Indeed, the lack of lighting, private sanitary facilities, secure shelters, and police patrolling in the encampment areas endanger women’s and girls’ safety. The devastation and traumatic loss of family and community members following the earthquake further affect women’s resilience and increase their vulnerability to abuse and sexual violence. By examining the conditions and risks faced by women and girls in the displacement camps, this chapter suggests preventive measures and effective responses that international law and humanitarian aid programs should adopt to protect Haitian women and girls from gender-based violence in order to prevent them from engaging in further retaliatory practices. The Aftermath of the Haitian Earthquake The country was utterly unequipped to withstand the quake. Most Haitians live in tin-roofed shacks perched on steep ravines that are subject to landslides. In the center of the capital and the neighboring towns, most of the buildings were constructed of inferior concrete and sand without steel rods or any other form of reinforcement. As a result, hillsides packed with WOMEN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE EARTHqUAKE 139 slums were swept away by landslides following the quake, as were entire urban neighborhoods. Horrifying mass-media images depicted dead bodies littering the pavement while ambulances swerved among them to rescue those who were still alive and injured. The presidential palace, the Parliament building, the offices of international aid agencies, the Hotel Montana (which housed tourists and foreign delegations) as well as the roof and the aisles of the national cathedral folded like cardboard. The Hotel Christopher , headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission, collapsed with over two hundred employees trapped inside. The earthquake severely affected both the capacity and the...