From violence against women to women's violence in Haiti.

• Author: Faedi, Benedetta

Much of the current scholarship, as well as international policy studies focusing on civil conflicts and armed violence, has primarily construed women as victims and men as perpetrators of violence. Although this prevalent interpretation certainly reflects conventional wisdom and tells part of a true war story, the remainder, which has been very much less publicized and addressed, also perceives women as participants in violence and men occasionally as victims. This Article joins the chorus of scholars that have only recently begun to highlight the flaws of this common belief and conversely, describe female participation in conflict and armed violence, often in order to discover a convincing explanation for why women engage in violence.

This Article goes even further in seeking to deepen the understanding of why women and girls, living in the slum communities of Haiti, participate in violence, by looking at the specific nexus between their prior victimization through sexual abuse and their ensuing decision to join the armed factions. To be sure, pertinent studies focusing either on violence against women and women's violence, or their reciprocal influences and correlations have already been conducted in several countries torn apart by civil conflict or armed violence. To date, however, this issue has not yet been explored in Haiti, where available data has nonetheless suggested a high prevalence of sexual violence against girls and women as well as their involvement in armed violence.

In particular, this study aims to shed light on female internalization of gender stereotypes and experience with violence, which produces common patterns of retaliation. It investigates the incentives, conditions and decision-making processes that motivate victims of rape and sexual abuse to join armed groups and to become active affiliates and perpetrators of violence themselves. Ultimately, by investigating the current international legal norms and Haitian legislation on both female victimization and aggression, this analysis aims to contribute to the design of effective measures to free women from violence, to dispel their anger and resentment towards forms of community reconciliation, and to adequately reintegrate them into society.

This empirical research is informed by longitudinal fieldwork conducted over a seven-month period in the three cities of Haiti primarily affected by armed violence: Port-au-Prince, Cap Haitian and Gonaive. This research design included in-depth face-to-face interviews, focus groups and participant observation involving a heterogeneous sample of informants comprised of: women, who have either been victims of violence or who have been members of armed groups; and representatives of international and national institutions or civil society organizations working on resolving the issues of women and armed violence in Haiti.

The remainder of the Article proceeds as follows. In Section I, the Author summarizes the historical and social context for gender-based violence and female violence in Haiti.

In Section II, the Author reviews the current literature on female participation in conflict and armed violence as well as on the victimization-offending nexus. In Section III, the Author explains the research methods and data sources adopted for the study. In Section IV, the Author presents empirical evidence from Haiti on women's experiences with violence--either as victims or as perpetrators--and examines the conditions and rationale that motivate them to become involved with the armed groups.

In Section IV, the Author suggests relevant implications for legal and policy interventions by considering the following: the main international legal norms protecting women and girls from sexual violence in conflict settings and addressing their consequent involvement in violence; the Haitian legal regime designed for the protection of victims of sexual violence, on the one hand, and the prosecution of girls and women associated with the gangs, on the other hand; and the current specific programs aimed at reintegrating female participants of armed and community violence into society. Finally, in Section VI, the Author concludes by summarizing the main contributions of this study.

1. SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT

   After the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, a succession of precarious governments followed one after the other until the democratic election of Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1990. As one of the most popular representatives of a group of progressive catholic priests, preaching evangelical compassion and justice for rich and poor alike, Aristide became a fervent opponent of both the Duvalier regime and the ensuing series of military administrations. (1) Inspiring worshippers to reclaim a better standard of living and equal participation in politics, Aristide called upon the underprivileged masses to aspire to what became his 1990 campaign slogan: "justice, participation and transparency." (2) The vast electoral support that brought him to power with 67% of the popular vote (3) also procured him the resentment and aversion of the elites and the military forces. In 1991, after being in office for only a few months, a bloody military coup removed Aristide and forced him into exile, first in Venezuela and later in the United States. (4) During the subsequent four years, a series of provisional governments supported by armed forces under the command of General Cedras ruled the country and waged war against Aristide's supporters. Under the yoke of repression and abuse of power, thousands of Haitians were beaten, tortured and murdered by the military and police, obliterating the last vestiges of democracy. (5) Over 1680 girls and women, who were either pro-democracy supporters themselves or somehow closely related to the movement, reported having been brutally raped. Still, many other victims never did so, fearing further harm to themselves or their families. (6) A delegation of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women visiting Haiti in 2000 estimated that only about 44% of the women and girls who had been sexually victimized during the period of the military regime between 1991 and 1994 actually reported the aggressions. (7)

   Sexual violence, and particularly gang rape, were so widely employed at the time that they became part of a deliberate political strategy to terrorize and control the entire population. (8) The common pattern of violence, usually referred to as zenglendos, consisted of sudden raids by armed men in the middle of the night, beating and raping the young women of the house before their relatives' eyes. A further ruthless variant included forcing husbands and fathers--who were supporters of the opposition and, thus, the real targets of the punitive expeditions--to rape, under threat, their own daughters, sisters or mothers. (9) Amid the widespread repression and violent outbreaks that hastened the country into civil conflict, gang rape and battery became political weapons that were systematically employed to defeat rival factions and disrupt communities. (10) The international community officially condemned the military coup, rallying in favor of Aristide's return to power. On July 31, 1994, gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Haiti and the systematic violations of civil rights, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 940, authorizing a military intervention to remove the coup leaders and restore Aristide to the presidency. (11) In turn, the Clinton Administration threatened to order an imminent invasion by the American troops into the country until the military junta eventually consented to their peaceful access into Haiti and the restoration of Aristide's government. (12) After finishing his term in office at the end of 1995, Aristide stepped aside to cede power to his first Prime Minister, Rene Preval, who was then elected the new president of Haiti in 1996. (13)

   While approximately 1300 peacekeeping troops and 300 civilian police were deployed as part of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) to maintain security and political stability in the country, Aristide launched his new political party, Fanmi Lavalas or the "Lavalas Family". Soon thereafter, several fringe groups, known as the organizations populaires, or "popular organizations," sprang up across the most impoverished Haitian communities, proselytizing in support of the former president. 14 During the following years, brutal slaughters and violent street confrontations among Aristide supporters and opponents propelled the country into chaos and despair. (15)

   In the presidential election of 2000, notwithstanding the gross irregularities and fraudulent manipulations denounced by the international community and the opponents of the Fanmi Lavalas party, Aristide was re-elected with 92% of the popular vote. In response, his political adversaries and many international policymakers waged a defamation campaign against him, accusing him of political repression, corruption, narcotics-trafficking, and human rights violations. (16) In 2004, following a bloody revolt of the armed factions based in northern Haiti that spread rapidly to the capital, Port-au-Prince, Aristide hastily left the country, fleeing first to the Central African Republic and later to South Africa, where he still currently resides.

   After the ouster of Aristide's government, the poor slum communities that had chiefly served his interests and staunchly supported his policies were soon engulfed in disarray, leading to violent armed confrontations among rival groups. A few months later--noting the existence of challenges to the political, social and economic stability of Haiti, and determining that such a critical situation constituted a threat to the international peace and security of the entire region--the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1542 and...