‘We’re fighting the system’: Haitian lawyers take rape case to court | sexual violence

Every morning, three lawyers navigate the treacherous gang-ridden roads of Port-au-Prince to get to work. Among the women’s two priorities for the day, this is the number one: Getting to and from the office safely. The second is to fight the Haitian legal system from within, trying to bring justice to women who have been raped.

Sexual violence linked to armed gangs in Haiti is not new, but the situation has deteriorated dramatically since the president’s assassination last year, leaving the country in a power vacuum.

The Lawyers’ Bureau International (BAI), a human rights organization, was set up in the Haitian capital following a significant rise in sexual assaults predominantly on women in displacement camps set up after the 2010 earthquake.

Lawyers – Derulian, Marie-Catia Doristante – Loufroy and Gladys Termezi – assist victims through legal procedures, from filing a police report to preparing the case and representing them at trial – if any. Of the 528 cases they have worked on since the 2010 earthquake, only 10 have been prosecuted.

“When you live in a society with a lot of problems, women and girls always suffer. In such a situation, gangs use women as weapons of war for revenge, to show their abilities,” says Abigail Derulian.

We are not a country that promotes human rights, especially women’s rights. Women don’t know that they can live with dignity, that they can get justice. We have a lot of women who have been raped, and we know that the majority are silent because they are afraid.”

An assessment of Haiti by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2021 found that gang-related sexual violence was on the rise. “Rape has been used as a weapon to humiliate, intimidate and strengthen the control of gang members over the local population. In some areas, the feeling of impunity is so widespread that rapes are perpetrated in broad daylight.”

Carlin*, supported by BAI, was attacked during the day by two men.

“I had to quit my job in a garment factory and move to the countryside because the gang members were looking for me,” she says. Her case is awaiting at the prosecutor’s office.

In its most recent figures published last March, the United Nations estimates that 23% of married or cohabiting women will experience sexual or physical abuse by a partner in their lives. Last year, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the number of registered cases in Haiti rose by 377% in 2020.

BAI, in partnership with the US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, is providing much-needed support.

The women are referred from organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, which provides primary medical care after an attack, and from an extensive network of community support workers.

We have an obstacle to justice and this is the judicial system. We are fighting the system. We double the hours to make sure the victim is not frustrated. “We don’t stop investigating,” Tarmezi says.

Lawyers say corruption, stigma and victim-blaming are rife. Bribery is very common in the courts while judges ask questions such as: “What were you doing outside at this hour of the day? What were you wearing? Isn’t this a love affair?”

BAI’s lawyers remain resilient. “I come from a poor, voiceless family and am happy to advocate for women who have no one to speak for and no money for legal services,” says Dorestant-Lefruy.

“We face many obstacles in achieving justice for women…but the work gives me the strength and courage to speak out on behalf of these women.”

*Name changed

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