Thousands of Haitians today face violence and discrimination because of their gender identity and sexual orientation. Even the merest suspicion that a person may be LGBT can place their life directly at risk. They are deprived of their human rights, marginalized, harassed, beaten and murdered--and their government does little to prevent violence or bring those responsible to justice.
Solution
With your support, MADRE partners with grassroots Haitian women’s and LGBT groups, including FACSDIS and SEROvie, to create safe spaces to organize and to advance new protections against violence.
- We help Haitian grassroots women’s and LGBT groups to create safe spaces and to organize for their rights.
- We protect people's safety and health, while bolstering community recognition of grassroots groups as vital service providers. We support locally-run sexual rights campaigns, which distribute condoms and other safe sex supplies, provide medical screenings and referrals, and create a community of support to visit people in health crises.
- We document human rights violations against women and LGBT people. We support our grassroots partners to gather evidence and testimonies.
- We accompany and train our local partners to present their demands to policymakers and testify before human rights bodies. We work with our partners to engage their own government and international human rights mechanisms to create practical policy wins at home.
- Grassroots women’s and LGBT groups in Haiti make common cause to stand up for their rights, building a stronger progressive movement.
- Our face-to-face workshops with Haitian ministers, law makers, police, prosecutors and judges tackle stigma, reforms to the penal code, and barriers to prosecuting sexual violence against women and LGBT persons. These workshops have created positive policy changes and an increase in reporting and prosecutions of rape.
- We build pressure to pass legislation pending in Haiti’s Executive Branch. If approved, this law would be a landmark in the fight to end violence against women and LGBT people.
For More Information
Violence and Discrimination against Women and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People in Haiti (March 2016) English (PDF)
Your Support in Action
With your support, our work in partnership with women and LGBTIQ activists in Haiti, Colombia, Iraq and beyond continues.
Press and Publications
All photos credit to © FACSDIS
