Overview:
During a panel at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Haitian feminist leaders highlighted the alarming increase in gender-based violence and the marginalization of women from political leadership in Haiti. Although solutions exist, women in Haiti remain excluded from crucial decision-making processes and lack the resources necessary for instigating change.
The struggle for women’s rights in Haiti has reached a pivotal moment, as feminist leaders emphasize the urgent need for action against gender-based violence and political marginalization. This sentiment was strongly communicated during a recent CSW panel centered on women’s rights in Haiti.
On March 14, the Haitian Women’s Collective, Nègès Mawon, and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti organized a parallel event titled “Advancing the Rights of Haitian Women & Girls: Haiti’s Transition & Beyond” at the CSW session in New York City. The discussion focused on the escalating crisis women face and its relation to the country’s broader governance failures.
The panelists, including Nathalie Eleonor Vilgrain, Souzen Joseph, and Lucia D. Pascale Solages, painted a bleak picture of the ongoing crisis in Haiti, specifically addressing the deepening plight of women and girls and linking it to the nation’s governance issues.
To ensure Haiti’s transition is successful, it must prioritize the needs and voices of Haitian women.
Currently, over a million individuals are internally displaced, with women and children constituting the most vulnerable groups. Alarmingly, there is no national strategy in place to safeguard their rights and well-being. The Haitian justice system has been labeled “corrupt” and heavily patriarchal, leaving survivors of gender-based violence with little hope of seeing their aggressors held accountable.
“This erosion of rights occurs under the watchful eye of the international community,” Vilgrain remarked, demanding stronger oversight and immediate support for locally-led solutions. Vilgrain, a Haitian-Canadian feminist activist and co-founder of the Haitian feminist organization MARIJÀN, stressed that international support often goes to corrupt leaders, making them complicit in the ongoing crisis.
Political Exclusion Undermines Lasting Change
A primary concern raised during the panel was the striking absence of female representation in Haiti’s governance. The country’s transitional presidential council consists entirely of men, with only one woman who lacks voting rights.
“When contemplating whether this transition can effectively address the issues we face as women, it becomes evident that we have a long journey ahead as civil society advocates, fighting for our rights every day,” shared Solages, general coordinator of Nègès Mawon.
This all-male composition of the council violates Haiti’s constitutional mandate, which stipulates at least 30% female representation in government.
“Excluding women from decision-making processes fundamentally undermines any hope for sustainable peace,” cautioned panelist Laura Nyirinkindi, chair of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. She cited Rwanda’s gender-inclusive governance following its post-genocide recovery as an exemplary model.
The panelists also questioned the role of international intervention in Haiti, emphasizing that local feminist organizations carry out significant work, such as documenting human rights violations and providing shelter for survivors, yet they remain grossly underfunded and overlooked by international donors who prefer to channel funds through larger NGOs and government entities.
Their recommendations included a shift toward direct funding for women-led organizations, ensuring enforcement of Haiti’s gender quota law, implementing judicial reforms to end impunity for gender-based violence, and increasing women’s involvement in political negotiations.
“We receive little support because we’re deemed ‘too radical’ for speaking out,” Solages concluded. “Meanwhile, international organizations operate with million-dollar budgets but fail to provide direct assistance to Haitian women.”
