HAITIAN RAPE VICTIMS RISK THEIR LIVES TO DEMAND THEIR RIGHTS
[For Immediate Release, September 1, 2006. CONTACT: Anne Sosin, Vizyon Dwa
Ayisyen, (011) 509-445-2868, asosin@gmail.com, or Eramithe Delva, Commission
of Women Victims for Victims, (011) 509-779-9155, kofaviv@gmail.com]
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, September 1, 2006: Despite the threat of violence
amidst continuing arson attacks and gun battles in Port-au-Prince’s poorest
neighborhoods, hundreds of women victims of rape will march through the
capital today with faces veiled to raise their voices against ongoing
violence and discrimination against women. The march will begin with a rally
at 10 am in Place Jérémie.
The march is organized by the Commission of Women Victims for Victims
(KOFAVIV), the largest community-based rape crisis group in Haiti. Marchers
will take their cry for justice to the Haitian Government by visiting the
Ministry of Justice, Ministry for Women, National Palace and Parliament.
A leader and founder of the group, Eramithe Delva explains, “We are veiling
our faces because this is how they come to our homes to rape us, beat us,
destroy our homes, burn our things. The veil also is a symbol of how we as
women are silenced and marginalized in all spheres of public life.” In the
wake of a massive exodus from the neighborhood of Grand Ravine, more than
sixty new victims have come forward to tell harrowing stories of the
escalating violence and their desperate efforts to survive and save their
children.
In a declaration released today to correspond with the march, women state:
“We demand that all groups responsible, including those that are
perpetrating the rapes and those that are encouraging these groups, stop
using rape against women. At the same time, we ask the state to take all
action necessary to prevent this from happening.” KOFAVIV further calls
upon both the Haitian government and the international community to take
concerted action to address the conditions at the root of violence.
“Protecting women’s rights does not only mean providing security in the
streets or putting perpetrators in jail when they commit rape. We are
asking for everyone’s rights to be respected, because we know that poverty
is one of the causes of violence.”
KOFAVIV was founded by a group of survivors of rape from the country’s
1991-94 military dictatorship to provide emergency medical assistance and
peer support to new women victims. Since its formation in late 2004,
KOFAVIV has assisted more than 1,000 victims of rape. KOFAVIV believes that
these figures represent only a fraction of the total victims, as many women
are afraid to report that they have been raped or to seek treatment.
===
WHAT TO DO:
Repression, enviro-destruction and poverty in Haiti are caused directly and
indirectly by the actions of the governments of the U.S. and Canada, as well
as our companies and “development” institutions.
Re-distribute, re-publish this information.
Get involved in education and activism work in your home community.
Send your own letters of concern and denunciation to your own politicians
and media;
Come to Haiti on an educational delegation;
Make a tax-charitable donation for community development, enviro- and human
rights organizations in Haiti.
[For Immediate Release, September 1, 2006. CONTACT: Anne Sosin, Vizyon Dwa
Ayisyen, (011) 509-445-2868, asosin@gmail.com, or Eramithe Delva, Commission
of Women Victims for Victims, (011) 509-779-9155, kofaviv@gmail.com]
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, September 1, 2006: Despite the threat of violence
amidst continuing arson attacks and gun battles in Port-au-Prince’s poorest
neighborhoods, hundreds of women victims of rape will march through the
capital today with faces veiled to raise their voices against ongoing
violence and discrimination against women. The march will begin with a rally
at 10 am in Place Jérémie.
The march is organized by the Commission of Women Victims for Victims
(KOFAVIV), the largest community-based rape crisis group in Haiti. Marchers
will take their cry for justice to the Haitian Government by visiting the
Ministry of Justice, Ministry for Women, National Palace and Parliament.
A leader and founder of the group, Eramithe Delva explains, “We are veiling
our faces because this is how they come to our homes to rape us, beat us,
destroy our homes, burn our things. The veil also is a symbol of how we as
women are silenced and marginalized in all spheres of public life.” In the
wake of a massive exodus from the neighborhood of Grand Ravine, more than
sixty new victims have come forward to tell harrowing stories of the
escalating violence and their desperate efforts to survive and save their
children.
In a declaration released today to correspond with the march, women state:
“We demand that all groups responsible, including those that are
perpetrating the rapes and those that are encouraging these groups, stop
using rape against women. At the same time, we ask the state to take all
action necessary to prevent this from happening.” KOFAVIV further calls
upon both the Haitian government and the international community to take
concerted action to address the conditions at the root of violence.
“Protecting women’s rights does not only mean providing security in the
streets or putting perpetrators in jail when they commit rape. We are
asking for everyone’s rights to be respected, because we know that poverty
is one of the causes of violence.”
KOFAVIV was founded by a group of survivors of rape from the country’s
1991-94 military dictatorship to provide emergency medical assistance and
peer support to new women victims. Since its formation in late 2004,
KOFAVIV has assisted more than 1,000 victims of rape. KOFAVIV believes that
these figures represent only a fraction of the total victims, as many women
are afraid to report that they have been raped or to seek treatment.
===
WHAT TO DO:
Repression, enviro-destruction and poverty in Haiti are caused directly and
indirectly by the actions of the governments of the U.S. and Canada, as well
as our companies and “development” institutions.
Re-distribute, re-publish this information.
Get involved in education and activism work in your home community.
Send your own letters of concern and denunciation to your own politicians
and media;
Come to Haiti on an educational delegation;
Make a tax-charitable donation for community development, enviro- and human
rights organizations in Haiti.