Leading Change: Sexual exploitation and violence against women -- breaking the poto mitan of Haitian society

By Marie-Claude Julsaint, World YWCA Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean

“Se fanm qui ranje tab la, e se li ki ranje lavi a ” (It is a woman who prepares the table and it is her who puts life in order. Women are central to everything in life.)

In Haitian culture, women are referred to as the poto mitan of the society. The poto mitan is the central post in a voodoo temple that serves as the connection between the spiritual and the physical world; it is the conduit for the spirits to enter the physical world during a voodoo ceremony. Women are therefore the central beam that keeps everything in order and connected.

Since the slave revolt, which brought independence in 1804, women have played an important role and stand out as key figures in Haiti’s history. Today, women contribute up to 70% of the national economy through their participation in the informal sector [1]. However, Haitian women face many forms of violence in a context of extreme poverty, discrimination and gender inequality.

Poverty and marginalisation have contributed to the current situation of increasing sexual exploitation and sexual violence against young women and girls; this impacts their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Data and information on sexual exploitation and sexual violence against women and girls need to improve in order for an effective response to be implemented.

In general, forced sexual relations within marriage or partnership are not perceived by the majority of Haitian men and women as violence, although 8 out of 10 women in Haiti are victims of domestic violence. [2] There are also many reported cases of sexual violence, including rape of girl-child domestic servants, commonly known as the restaveks . Trafficking of women and girls and forced repatriation of women at the Haitian-Dominican Republic border often includes sexual violence and rape. This also puts women and girls at greater risk of HIV infection.

Despite these alarming statistics and reports, I heard many powerful and inspiring stories of the courage and resilience of Haitian women who are able and dynamic leaders of their communities. Many governmental, civil society and women’s initiatives exist, including the establishment in 1994 of the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women’s Issues, the National Dialogue on Violence Against Women, Haiti’s National Plan to Combat Violence Against Women, and more recently the developing YWCA of Haiti which started its activities in 2006, focusing on women’s health and HIV, girls education and leadership development. All these initiatives demonstrate that the perception of women as poto mitan is not only a social factor but is becoming an institutionalised element of Haitian society.

Marie-Claude Julsaint, World YWCA Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean participated in a solidarity visit to Haiti in November 2008. Born and raised in Haiti until she left at age 17 to attend University in the United States, Julsaint returned to Haiti after 10 years. In this piece, she reflects on the situation of women and girls in Haiti.

[1] Oxfam

[2] ibid