This report is based on views expressed during an August 31, 2010, event, “Security after the Quake? Addressing Violence and Rape in Haiti,” hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Gender and Peacebuilding Center and the Haiti Working Group.
Summary
- In the wake of Haiti’s disastrous earthquake, international organizations have begun to recognize gender-based violence as a significant area of concern, particularly within Port-au-Prince’s internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Other forms of gender-based violence include not only rape, but also sexual abuse.
- Sexual violence is often underreported or not reported at all. This lack of data can prevent accurate assessments of rates of violence or trends.
- Grassroots organizations are working to reduce and better document sexual violence and to establish local mechanisms for increasing security throughout Haiti’s tent encampments.
About this Brief
This report is based on views expressed during an August 31, 2010, event, “Security after the Quake? Addressing Violence and Rape in Haiti,” hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Gender and Peacebuilding Center and the Haiti Working Group. The event featured presentations by Robert Perito, director of the Haiti Program, U.S. Institute of Peace; Lina Abirafeh, former gender-based violence coordinator, UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD); Lisa Davis, advocacy director, MADRE; and Louis-Alexander Berg, Jennings-Randolph Peace Scholar and rule of law adviser, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Kathleen Kuehnast, director of the Gender and Peacebuilding Center, U.S. Institute of Peace, served as moderator.
Brooke Stedman, program assistant for the Gender and Peacebuilding Center, wrote the report.