Haitian Women Still Neglected Almost Two Years Since Devastating Earthquake

Women in Haiti are still suffering from neglect, violence and lack of healthcare two years after the Earthquake hit.

The earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010 left a trail of devastation across the country, and as the two-year mark nears, women are still affected by poor health care and sexual violence towards them in the recovery efforts.

The earthquake destroyed over a million homes, causing 200,000 deaths and over 300,000 people were injured.

US$ 5.3 billion was raised by international donors to help the inhabitants of Haiti after the earthquake, and US$ 258 million was dedicated to supporting the healthcare of men and women in Haiti.

January 2012 will mark two years since the earthquake hit and yet only US$118.4 million of the donations has been disbursed.

On August 30, Human Rights Watch released a report titled ‘Nobody remembers us’, detailing how Haitian women have been, and are still, affected by the aftermath of the earthquake.

Haiti has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, meaning the death of a woman during or shortly after pregnancy. The report showed that maternal mortality rates in 2010 are at a high, with over 630 women dying per 100,000 births in Haiti.

According to the report, there are “serious gaps” in women’s access of healthcare to women and young girls affected by the earthquake.

Pregnant women are suffering from a lack of healthcare, transportation and health tests, including sonograms, which are vital to check the baby’s health and development. The lack of facilities available is causing women to give birth on the street in poor and dirty conditions. Some women are even resorting to form relationships with men for the sake of security, causing rates of sexual violence, including rape, to increase.

“I don’t have money to get the blood test and stool sample. The doctor said to come back, but he advised me to come back with the test results…. I don’t have a mother or father, I live with an ‘aunt’ [her employer] but she doesn’t take care of me now. Now I live in the camp with someone else since I was raped,” said Florence, according to the report.

An extended rights based approach has been suggested by a UN independent expert in order to help the reconstruction of the country. The expert argues that women should receive a “greater focus” in the efforts to reconstruct the country and ensure that labour programmes are not focused in the “economic sectors traditionally occupied by men”.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]