AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION ADOPTED BY THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES AUGUST 9-10, 2010 RECOMMENDATION RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the federal government to intensify its effort to provide adequate food, water, shelter and physical security to displaced women and children in Haiti, and to fund and support regional, sub-regional and international programs which prioritize the protection of these vulnerable groups, in conformity with international human rights principles. FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local agencies involved in aid and rebuilding efforts in Haiti to adopt programs and policies that specifically address situations that place women and children in marginalized and at-risk situations. FURTHER RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges the federal government to fund and support national, regional, sub-regional and international policies and programs that: (1) prevent sexual violence against Haitian women and children; (2) combat sexual exploitation and trafficking of Haitian women and children; (3) bring to justice perpetrators of such crimes; and, (4) provide effective assistance and rehabilitation to victims.
REPORT Overview Gender based violence has reached epidemic proportions in Haiti since the January 12, 2010 earthquake, with dramatic negative effects on displaced women, children and families. Meaningful police protection is totally lacking for these vulnerable groups, as illustrated by escalating crime rates, and a less than 2% prosecution rate for crimes against women and children. Medical and social services for victims are woefully inadequate. Public hospitals that were unequipped to provide needed services to victims before the earthquake have even fewer resources now. There is not a single government-run shelter for women and children in Haiti. International aid groups have tried to bridge these gaps, but resources fall far short of demand. In March, May, June and July, five teams of U.S. doctors and lawyers documented the prevalence of violence against women and children in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. These medical-legal delegations included nineteen American lawyers and six American doctors. Lawyers and medical doctors were selected as team members based on their experience working with trauma survivors, displaced persons, refugees and other highly vulnerable groups. All medical and legal team leaders had worked with survivors of torture, persecution, trauma and displacement for over a decade. The medical team leaders have worked in post-disaster and post-conflict situations. The legal team members all have expertise in international human rights law. The US based medical-legal team worked in conjunction with Haitian based human rights organizations, grass-roots women s groups, and Haiti based staff who served as interpreters. Members of the medical-legal delegations interviewed over 300 individuals between March and August in an effort to document social conditions in camps throughout Port au Prince. More than 90% of those interviewed reported inadequate shelter, lack of food aid, impure water, and lack of physical security. These conditions alone constitute a violation of basic human rights. The teams also interviewed more than 200 women and children to document the prevalence of sexual violence and exploitation in post-quake Haiti. More than 80 individuals reported being raped or abused since the quake. Disaster in Haiti On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a catastrophic earthquake of 7.0 magnitude about 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince. An estimated 3 million people were affected, with more than 250, 000 deaths estimated and 300,000 critically injured. This was the biggest disaster in Haiti in more than 200 years. In a matter of seconds many Haitians lost the protection and safety that they had found in their homes, safety that was valued by a country that had experienced multiple sociopolitical turmoil marked by violence, terrorism and gender-based violence. More than 1.5 million individuals were displaced as a result of the earthquake. Within a matter of weeks, more than 1,300 make-shift tent camps sprung up throughout and around Port-au- Prince. Although international organizations and governments pledged billions in aid, many Haitians reported they still had not received food aid and lacked adequate shelter two months after the earthquake. 1
Epidemic of Rape Dislocation, homelessness and a lack of adequate security in post-quake Haiti gave rise to an epidemic of violence against women and children living in tent camps. Between March and July, members of the medical-legal delegations documented more than 80 cases of rape. These statistics reflect a trend other groups working in Haiti have documented. KOFAVIV, a community-based women s group in Port-au-Prince, has documented over 260 incidents of rape in 15 camps since the earthquake. Doctors without Borders reported 68 cases of rape in the month of April alone at one of its clinics in Port au Prince. During a personal interview with members of the medical-legal team, the Haitian National Police reported that there have been more than 180 rapes of rape in Haiti since the earthquake. Given that few victims have the courage to make a police report this figure represents the lowest possible estimation of the scale of the problem. Victims ranged in age from 5 to 65 years. Most rapes were committed by perpetrators unknown to the victims. For example: A.J. is a 65-year old woman who survived politically-motivated rape in 2004. Shortly after the earthquake, she witnessed the rape of a teenage girl in her tent camp. She attempted to come to the girl s rescue and four men then turned on her and raped her. The violence she experienced brought back a flood of memories of her prior experience of rape and she became suicidal. She did not receive any medical or psychological care, despite her fragile mental state. Instead, members of her community established a 24-hour watch over her. N.C. is a 17-year old girl who lost her entire family in the earthquake. She wandered the streets of Port-au-Prince for two months because she had nowhere to go and no one to care for her. One night an elderly man asked her why she was out in the streets after dark. She explained her plight and he said his sister could care for her. She trusted him and went to his home. Shortly thereafter, three men showed up and raped her. These stories are based on personal interviews conducted by the author of this report. The facts repeat themselves in dozens of other cases. Rape Victims Lack Access to Appropriate Medical Care Most rape victims interviewed by the medical-legal teams suffered not only violent gang rapes but brutal physical beatings. Few victims were able to access appropriate medical care. Psychological services were totally lacking. Of the victims examined by members of the Stanford medical team, 95.7% were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and 53.6% were diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. More than 10% of the victims stated that they had considered committing suicide by drinking bleach or battery acid. One victim, a mother of two, confessed that she had considered killing herself and her children because she had given up all hope of protection or help. 2
In addition to suffering psychological harm, almost all of the rape victims suffered physical harm. In addition, four women reported that they had become pregnant as a result of rape. 302 M.P. was raped two days after the earthquake. Her parents died in the quake. She became pregnant and tried to obtain pre-natal care at a clinic, but was told she must pay for this care. She could not this care, was living in the streets, and had no access to food or potable water. A.C. was raped one month after the earthquake and became pregnant. Seven months after the rape she still had not had any pre-natal care. She was not receiving food aid. She was sleeping in the street because she feared staying in tent camps. A mid-wife at a medical clinic in the largest tent camp in Port au Prince reported that many women who become pregnant as a result of rape or sexual exploitation attempt to abort their pregnancies by taking a drug to prematurely induce labor and deliver the fetus before it is developed enough to survive. The mid-wife described this practice as life-threatening and one which often results in hospitalization of the victim. Failure to Meet the Need for Security in Displacement Camps Few women and children in the camps have adequate shelter. Most sleep on the ground or in make-shift tents made of bed sheets and curtains. The camps lack enclosed bathrooms or shower areas, so women and girls are forced to bathe in public, in view of men and boys. Security in the camps is totally inadequate. Few camps have any police presence whatsoever. Indeed, police reportedly refuse to patrol the most dangerous camps. Even where the police have a presence, it is ineffective. Many victims reported that the police make random appearances and then leave before dark. There is no lighting in the camps. Assailants attack after the police have disappeared and the sun has gone down. Law enforcement mechanisms that might provide some deterrent against crime are totally broken. A majority of victims stated that making a police report after a crime would not only be futile, but place them at greater risk of harm because few assailants are ever arrested. Rather, the police call them in for routine questioning and then release them, putting the victim at grave risk of retaliation. Women who have attempted to make a police report that they have been mocked, blamed for the crime, or sent away without meaningful help. One woman told us that she had attempted to make a report and police told her to go find the perpetrator and bring him to them herself. Another described telling the police about a rape and receiving the response tell it to Preval because they d heard enough reports of rape already. Where the police have taken some action, the outcome was short-lived. For example, in March 2010, a rape victim reported an assault to the police. She told interviewers that the police circled the camps with extra patrols each night for about a week after the attack, but did not find the assailants. They stopped the patrols without doing any further investigation. The failure to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes of gender based violence has denied victims justice, 3
normalized gender violence and encouraged prospective perpetrators with assurances of impunity. Relationship Between Lack of Food Aid And Sexual Exploitation There is a direct correlation between gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation, and inadequate food supply. In March 2010, President Preval ordered all non-governmental organizations to stop free food distribution. According to government and UN officials, this policy was implemented because distributing free food to displaced Haitians living in tent camps was undermining the national economy. However, the unemployment rate in Haiti is more than 80% and most vulnerable women and children cannot afford to buy food in the marketplace. As a result, they have resorted to seeing their bodies to obtain food. Members of our May and July delegations documented several cases of widows, orphans and vulnerable children who have been forced to trade sex for food. Members of the July delegation interviewed individuals in the largest tent camp in Port-au-Prince and several people confirmed that the practice exists throughout the capital. The leaders of KOFAVIV have documented more than 160 cases of prostitution by orphans between the ages of 10 and 17 living in four different tent camps. The children told the leaders they had no other way to get money for food. Leaders of UNIFEM confirmed the problem of transactional sex is widespread among women and girls displaced by the earthquake. Members of the Haitian National Police stated that the sex for food trade pervades every one of the 1,380 tent camps in Haiti. Recommendation The above findings make it plain that more needs to be done to protect women and girls in Haiti. The proposed recommendations submitted with this report support the development of comprehensive policies and programs to address the special needs of these vulnerable groups. By urging local, state, territorial and federal governments and agencies involved in relief and rebuilding efforts to adopt programs and policies that incorporate a gender perspective, and specifically address the needs of women and children, the ABA can play an instrumental role in preventing and combating gender based violence and sexual exploitation in Haiti. Respectfully submitted, Jayne E. Fleming Pro Bono Counsel Reed Smith LLP 101 Second Street, Suite 1800 San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 659-4779 4
GENERAL INFORMATION FORM Submitted By: ABA Member, Jayne E. Fleming, Pro Bono Counsel, Reed Smith LLP 1. Summary of Recommendations. The recommendation urges the federal government to intensify its effort to provide adequate food, water, shelter and physical security to displaced women and children in Haiti, and to fund and support regional, sub-regional and international programs which prioritize the protection of these vulnerable groups. It further urges federal, state, territorial and local governments and agencies involved in aid and rebuilding efforts in Haiti to adopt programs and policies that specifically aim to address situations that place women and children in marginalized and at-risk situations. Finally, the recommendation urges the federal government to fund and support national, regional, sub-regional and international policies and programs that: (1) prevent sexual violence against Haitian women and children; (2) combat sexual exploitation and trafficking of Haitian women and children; (3) bring to justice perpetrators of such crimes; and (4) provide effective assistance and rehabilitation to victims. 2. Approval by Submitting Entity: Not applicable. 3. Has this or a similar recommendation been submitted to the House or Board previously? No. 4. What existing Association policies are relevant to this recommendation and how would they be affected by its adoption? Relevant Policies: After the earthquake in Haiti, the Association supported the creation of a Haiti Legal Development Fund and announced its commitment to helping Haiti rebuild its legal and judicial systems. The ABA has supported various protocols of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the protocols on the sale of children and child prostitution. The recommendations in this report are consistent with that protocol insofar as they seek to protect Haitian children from forced prostitution and the forced trade of sex for food in Haiti. The ABA has supported the recognition of a fundamental right to food and urged the U.S. government to make the right to food a principal objective of U.S. foreign policy. It has supported international conventions and protocols aimed at protecting the rights of the elderly, the homeless, and displaced communities. The ABA has supported U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and supported in principle the development of an optional protocol to the convention providing for an individual right of petition as called for in the Platform for Action adopted at 5
the Fourth World Conference on Women. (Nov. 1995). It has endorsed international and domestic efforts to promote and protect women s human rights through the adoption and enforcement of legal provisions for equality and equal protection of the law. The recommendations in this report are consistent with the above policies and would impact them in a positive way insofar as they aim to protect the rights of women and children in Haiti. 5. What urgency exists which requires action at this meeting of the House? Women and children are suffering violence in Haiti on a daily basis. There is an urgent need to shed light on this issue. We also expect both houses of Congress to consider proposed spending bills related to relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti in the fall of 2010. It is critical that policies and programs implemented or endorsed by the federal government incorporate a gender perspective and address situations that put women and children at risk. 6. Status of Legislation: The recommendations here do not relate to pending legislation. 7. Cost to the Association: None. 8. Referrals: Not applicable. 9. Contact Person: (Prior to the meeting) Jayne E. Fleming Pro Bono Counsel Reed Smith LLP 101 Second Street, Suite 1800 San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 659-4779 10. Contact Person: (Who will present the report to the House) Jayne E. Fleming Pro Bono Counsel Reed Smith LLP 101 Second Street, Suite 1800 San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 659-4779 6