Haitian Women's Fight for Gender Justice
- During the 1991-1994 dictatorship, between 4,000 and 7,000 people were killed and soldiers and paramilitaries raped hundreds, possibly thousands, of women in systematic attacks designed to terrorize the pro-democracy movement; no political rapes were punished during the dictatorship.
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights became the first international human rights body to officially recognize rape outside detention as torture in its 1995 report on rape in Haiti, and a Haitian rape victim won the first US ruling recognizing rape as persecution on the basis of political opinion.
- By 2003 no major rape trials had been held, but public acknowledgement was significant and a promising case was in the pipeline.
- Poverty, patriarchy, a corrupt French-language justice system, and social division remained interlocking obstacles to justice for poor women.
This draft book chapter, written in 2003 by Brian Concannon Jr. for a cancelled series on women's human rights, examines the struggle of victims of political rape during Haiti's 1991-1994 military dictatorship to prosecute those responsible, including the top military leadership. Soldiers and paramilitaries raped hundreds, possibly thousands, of women in attacks that were massive, systematic, and designed to terrorize the pro-democracy movement, with women targeted as the poto mitan, or centerpost, of Haitian society.
The chapter situates the fight for justice within two transitions: the international movement toward accountability for political rape, in which Haitian cases contributed early precedents such as the Inter-American Commission's 1995 recognition of rape as torture, and Haiti's national transition from dictatorship, constrained by extreme poverty, social division, a corrupt and elitist justice system, and a development assistance embargo. It reviews women's organizing, notes partial successes including public acknowledgement and a promising case in the pipeline, and recommends ways the international community can support Haitian women's pursuit of justice and comprehensive change.
How to cite
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), 2003, Haitian Women's Fight for Gender Justice, https://ijdh.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Political-Rape-in-Haiti.pdf