Benedetta Faedi Duramy, Women in the Aftermath of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake

• Citation: Vol. 25 No. 3
• Publication year: 2010
• topic: Civil Rights

WOMEN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE 2010 HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE

Benedetta Faedi Duramy*

INTRODUCTION

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, devastating the capital of the country, Port-au-Prince, and several other cities.1 Hundreds of thousands of Haitians died, approximately the same number were injured, and more than a million lost their homes and have been living in the 1,300 displacement camps around the country ever since.2 Extreme poverty and desperation, coupled with sexual violence, affect the women and girls who have survived the earthquake.3 To be sure, gender-based violence is not a new problem in Haiti. Several studies conducted prior to the earthquake documented the rampant practices of sexual violence affecting women and girls both in the public and private realms.4 The earthquake and its dramatic consequences, however, exacerbated the already arduous conditions faced by Haitian women. In addition, the earthquake violently undermined the precarious capacity and functionality of national institutions including the

government, law enforcement forces, and judicial system.

This Article examines women’s and girls’ struggles in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. In particular, it focuses on the grievous conditions in the displacement camps that foster gender-based violence and abuse, often perpetrated by members of armed groups or prison escapees. Indeed, the lack of lighting, private sanitary facilities, secure shelters, and police patrols in the encampment areas endanger women’s and girls’ safety. The devastation and traumatic loss of family and community members following the earthquake

* Associate Professor of Law, Golden Gate University School of Law.

1. Simon Romero & Marc Lacey, Fierce Quake Devastates Haitian Capital; Worst Is Feared, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 12, 2010, at A1.

2. Where We Work, REFUGEES INT’L, http://www.refintl.org/where-we-work/%252Fhaiti (last visited Oct. 31, 2011).

3. See id.

4. See INTER-AGENCY SUB-WORKING GRP. ON GENDER IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION, INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMM., INFORMATION ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN HAITI PRIOR TO THE EARTHQUAKE 1 (2010),

   available at http://oneresponse.info/Disasters/Haiti/Protection/publicdocuments/Lit%20Review%20Sexual% 20Violence%20in%20Haiti%2029%20January%202010.pdf.

   further affect women’s resilience and increase their vulnerability to abuse and sexual violence. By examining the conditions and risks faced by women and girls in the displacement camps, this Article aims to identify preventive measures and effective responses that international law and humanitarian aid should adopt to protect displaced women and girls and address gender-based violence.

   
   

   Part I depicts the devastation caused by the 2010 Haitian earthquake as well as the international aid and relief efforts deployed by foreign states and international organizations. Part II presents accounts of women and girls living in the displacement camps who have been victims of sexual violence. This Part documents some of their stories and reports their daily struggles. Part III examines both the international and domestic legal framework to protect women and girls from violence in post-disaster settings. Finally, Part IV suggests practical measures that should be implemented to provide adequate services, protection, and judicial redress to rape victims in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.

   
   

   1. THE AFTERMATH OF THE EARTHQUAKE

      
      

      The earthquake of January 12, 2010, devastated the Haitian capital of Port- au-Prince and much of the surrounding countryside.5 Other areas severely impacted by the quake included the cities of Petit Goave, Grand Goave, and Leogane in the West Department; the town of Jacmel in the South-East Department; and the town of Miragoane in the Nippes Department.6 Hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives, and about 3 million people—a third of Haiti’s population—were affected by the quake.7 The United Nations (“UN”) and the Haitian government estimated that the death toll was between 250,000 and 300,000,8 an equal number of Haitians was injured or permanently

      
      

5. Romero & Lacey, supra note 1.

6. U.N. Secretary-General, Rep. of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, para. 2, U.N. Doc. S/2010/200 (Feb. 22, 2010).

7. Haiti Raises Earthquake Toll to 230,000, WASH. POST, Feb. 10, 2010, at A9; Red Cross: 3M Haitians Affected by Quake, CBS NEWS (Mar. 9, 2010, 6:27 PM), http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/13/world/ main6090601.shtml.

8. Haiti Will Not Die, President Rene Preval Insists, BBC NEWS (Feb. 12, 2010), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/

   hi/americas/8511997.stm; Haiti’s Earthquake Death Toll Revised to at Least 250,000, TELEGRAPH (Apr. 22, 2010, 11:11 PM), http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/7621756/ Haitis-earthquake-death-toll-revised-to-at-least-250000.html.

   disabled, and 1 million were left homeless.9 More than 600,000 individuals fled Port-au-Prince to safer rural areas and provincial towns, thereby encumbering local communities.10 Schools, hospitals, houses, offices, shops, the presidential palace, the cathedral, and the headquarters of the UN mission all collapsed.11

   
   

   Seismologists had long warned about the probability of earthquakes on the island of Hispaniola, which includes the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.12 In fact, the island sits on the Gonave microplate, a small strip of the earth’s crust that compresses the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates.13 In 1946, the Dominican Republic suffered a severe earthquake,14 but the 2010 Haitian disaster was more devastating. Its epicenter was only about ten miles southwest of Port-au-Prince and began only six miles below ground, quickly reaching the surface with full force.15 The shaking was felt as far away as eastern Cuba; a series of powerful aftershocks continued throughout the following few days.16

   
   

   The country was utterly unequipped to withstand the earthquake. Many poor Haitians lived in tin-roofed shacks perched on steep ravines, which are subject to landslides.17 In the center of the capital and the neighboring towns, most of the buildings were constructed of inferior concrete and sand without steel rods or any other form of fortification.18 As a result, hillsides packed with slums as well as entire urban neighborhoods were swept away by landslides following the earthquake.19 Horrifying media images depicted dead bodies

   
   

9. Haiti’s Earthquake Death Toll Revised to at Least 250,000, supra note 8; see also Kimberly A. Cullen

   & Louise C. Ivers, Human Rights Assessment in Parc Jean Marie Vincent, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 12 HEALTH

   & HUM. RTS. PRAC. 61, 61 (2010).

10. Amnesty Int’l, Haiti: After the Earthquake, Initial Mission Findings March 2010, at 6, AI Index AMR 36/004/2010 (Mar. 2010) [hereinafter Haiti: After the Earthquake].

11. See id. at 7–9; Andrew Cawthorne, Interview - Haitian Education System ‘Totally Collapsed,’ REUTERS, Jan. 18, 2010, available at http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/01/18/idINIndia-45472320100118; Bryan Walsh, After the Destruction: What Will It Take To Rebuild Haiti?, TIME (Jan. 16, 2010), http://www. time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953379_1953494_1954338,00.html.

12. See Katherine Harmon, Haiti Earthquake Disaster Little Surprise to Some Seismologists, SCIENTIFIC AM. (Jan. 13, 2010), http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=haiti-earthquake-prediction.

13. Id.

14. Id.

15. Romero & Lacey, supra note 1.

16. M7.0 — Haiti Region, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURV. (Jan. 12, 2010, 4:53 PM), http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/2010rja6/us/index.html.

17. Romero & Lacey, supra note 1.

18. Tom Watkins, Problems with Haiti Building Standards Outlined, CNN (Jan. 13, 2010), http://articles. cnn.com/2010-01-13/world/haiti.construction_1_building-code-haiti-earthquake.

19. Id.

    littering the pavement while ambulances swerved around them to rescue those who were still alive and injured.20 The presidential palace, the parliament building, the offices of international aid agencies, the Hotel Montana—housing tourists and foreign delegations—as well as the roof and aisles of the national cathedral folded like cardboard.21 The Hotel Christopher, headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission, collapsed as well as other UN offices.22

    
    

    The earthquake severely impacted both the capacity and structure of the Haitian state. Some senators and several other politicians were injured.23 In addition, one-third of the country’s civil servants died.24 As a result, the elections that had been scheduled for February 2010 were postponed, creating political instability and domestic unrest.25 In addition to the parliament building and presidential palace, many other government buildings collapsed or were seriously damaged, including the Supreme Court, the Palace of Justice, ministries, tribunals, and police stations.26 More than seventy-five police officers perished and hundreds were injured or dispersed.27 The male prison in Port-au-Prince was destroyed by the earthquake and about 4,300 prisoners escaped, including some leaders and many members of armed groups.28 One hundred and one UN personnel died, including the special representative and his deputy, the acting police commissioner, the director of political affairs, the head of the elections unit, and many military, police, and civilian officers.29

    
    

    The international community response provided approximately $9 billion in short- and long-term relief and rebuilding efforts.30 During the first days

    
    

20. See Haiti Earthquake: Photos, CNN (Jan. 18, 2011), http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2010/01/world/ gallery.large.haiti-1/index.5.html.

21. See Simon Romero, Haiti Lies in Ruins; Grim Search for Untold Dead, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 13, 2010, at

    A1; Tracy Wilkinson, Disaster in Haiti: Despair Among Haiti’s Sacred Ruins, L.A. TIMES, Jan. 16, 2010, at 19; Press Release, Offices of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General & the Spokesperson for the Gen. Assembly President, Spokesperson’s Noon Briefing (Jan. 13, 2010), http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/...