MADRE Programs in Haiti

KOFAVIV

Incidents of rape have escalated sharply in Haiti in recent years, alongside the surge in human rights violations and the social and political insecurity that has descended since the forced removal of elected President Aristide on February 29, 2004. Hundreds of women report rapes each month, and many more incidents of violence against women go unreported. To address these grave abuses of women's human rights, MADRE works with KOFAVIV to meet rape survivors' immediate needs and help them create long-term strategies to ensure their safety, health, and well-being.

KOFAVIV was founded and is led by economically excluded women who were raped during Haiti's last military dictatorship, between 1991-94. For poor women, there is no refuge from the threat of rape. Rapes occur in broad daylight and late at night, in market areas, transport vehicles, police stations, and private homes.

MADRE supports I Am One of Many, one of KOFAVIV's projects with rape survivors in poor neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, most of whom do not read or write, live in substandard housing, and lack access to basic services, including healthcare, clean water, and electricity. Like all violence against women, rape has a devastating effect on the lives of women who already live on the margins of survival. Many survivors suffer from ongoing medical consequences of the rape but lack the resources to seek medical treatment. KOFAVIV provides high-quality, free medical care and counseling for rape survivors, including testing and treatment for STIs, prenatal care for women who become pregnant as a result of rape, and medical certificates for survivors, which are important for prosecuting perpetrators in court.

KOFAVIV creates and supports solidarity groups, providing informal social and psychological support for rape survivors. The groups are designed to provide mutual emotional support and to encourage members to begin undertaking collective action to fight gender-based violence.

Rape is not only physically and emotionally devastating; it is also often economically disastrous for poor women. When women are raped in their homes, aggressors frequently kill or kidnap males or other women in the household, steal money and commercial goods, and burn or destroy the house or property, which is often their only means of economic survival. This extreme physical and economic insecurity leaves women highly vulnerable to further abuses. KOFAVIV works with a micro-credit organization to facilitate women's access to economic resources and generate much-needed income for themselves and their families.

In addition to providing direct support to rape survivors, KOFAVIV documents human rights abuses. This documentation is necessary for use in lawsuits for survivors and for advocacy at the national and international level to combat violations of women's human rights.

Zanmi Lasante

MADRE works in partnership with Zanmi Lasante, a community-based health care center co-founded by Partners in Health. Because MADRE and Zanmi Lasante believe that health care is a human right, the clinic treats anyone who walks through the door, regardless of their ability to pay. Recognizing that good health relies not only on access to medical treatment but also on access to potable water, food, housing, and education, MADRE works in partnership with Zanmi Lasante to provide comprehensive health care and socio-economic services to women and their families.

MADRE supports Zanmi Lasante's innovative HIV/AIDS program, which provides life-saving antiretroviral medication to hundreds of HIV-positive patients. MADRE also supports Zanmi Lasante's women's health clinic, which provides pre- and post-natal care, vaccinations for women and children, and screening and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and cervical cancer. The clinic also has a mobile health care unit, which provides high-quality health care for women and girls who are unable to travel to the clinic itself.

MADRE also supports Zanmi Lasante's nutrition program, which feeds over 2,000 malnourished children and infants every day. In a country where 50 percent of the population suffers from malnutrition, this food security program is literally saving lives every day.