Why Haiti Needs New Narratives. Gina Athena Ulysse
findings.
The United Nations’ Gender-Based Violence (GBV) sub-cluster’s response to rape in Haiti received a critical assessment by the delegation. The sub-cluster was cited in the report for failing to substantively consult with impacted groups. Specifically, “Poor women report they were not included in the post-disaster needs assessments (PDNA) … and have difficulty accessing sub-cluster activities.”
One of the sub-cluster’s initiatives—a referral card for survivors of sexual violence distributed throughout the camps—actually contained inaccurate information such as out-of-service phone numbers and incorrect street addresses for rape-related resources. According to the report, the UN group did not conduct any systematic tracking of rape cases, while the local grassroots organization, KOFAVIV, did. In short, it seems the same women who were victims were left to handle the situation themselves and provide their own security.
The report concludes that the current situation in Haiti is dire, especially since rapes are oftentimes unreported and the government of Haiti “fails to take the minimum steps required under international law to protect women’s rights to bodily integrity and, in some cases, to life.” The report’s authors advise donor states to work in concert with the Haitian government and take a more active role in addressing the security crisis that underscores this persistent violence. They make a number of notable recommendations to stakeholders, including the immediate provision of security and lighting in camps; inviting a UN special rapporteur on violence against women to visit Haiti; guaranteeing full participation of women in all phases of Haiti’s reconstruction; systematically collecting data concerning violence against women; and, finally, acting with due diligence to prevent, investigate, and punish such acts.
Haiti is yet another country that historically ascribes little value to its women and girls when it comes to acknowledging and prosecuting gender-based violence. Thus it is not surprising that women have no faith in the justice system, as they are only too aware of their value to the state. It is quite telling that, according to the report, some women in Haiti prefer the term “victim” as opposed to “survivor.” Their bodies remain the scenes of crimes that we must not allow to go unpunished.
13
Haiti’s Solidarity with Angels
August 1, 2010 / e-misférica
Sometimes I joke that if Mother Teresa had been the president of Haiti, she too would have become corrupt. After all, she would have been surrounded by fraudulence. All the key players in Haitian affairs—the United States, international financial institutions, the United Nations, and the Haitian government—unevenly partake in imperialist projects, diplomatic and spy games, and exploits of all kinds for the recirculation of capital. Disrespectful? Maybe. Sacrilegious? No.
Part shock factor, part common sense, part frustration. An ill-fitted shout-out to Bourdieu and Gramsci. An attempt to press the exigency of recognizing that those issues, which have continually compromised the republic, must be understood as structural and should be articulated in terms of the reproduction of structures. At the same time, the comment feeds a rebellious need to flip the script on icons and symbols (living or dead) in order to make a not-so-subtle point about the divinity of whiteness without cloaks in a country where the use, exchange, and symbolic value of color with its multiple significations have continually accrued interest since the first documented encounter between Europeans and the indigenous population. The two are not unrelated.
Angels were always white, flesh-color white that is, until activists lobbied Crayola and the company changed flesh white to peach.
It is nothing short of fiction to think that Mother Teresa could save Haiti any more than could the two genuflecting angels looking for deliverance from the American people, and the USAID’s logo (unseen in the photo) of two clasped hands—one dark, one light—signifying an (impossible) partnership between unequals (rivals). No one can save Haiti. Regardless of individual intent, the president enters into preordained relations from which he can hardly be extricated unscathed at the very moment in which he is placed in, rises to, or buys the office with borrowed funds that need to be repaid. No one is above the fray, whether they be men of arms, men of commerce, men of the cloth, men of letters, or the arts and the like. Hats off to the aberration, but they likely be men.
Haiti does not need to be rescued. If that was not evident before January 12 when the earth cracked open, it became hyper-visible to the world soon after, as we all became witness to human rights violations of all kinds in the name of expediency. Children labeled orphans were whisked off to faraway lands. Humanitarian aid came bearing guns. Protect the borders. In desperate times, thou shall not question the benevolence in the gift.
Brown angels always seem to be replications of originals. Simply darkened. Others remade in the image of Self.
Haiti does not need to be saved. Haiti needs to be restructured if those who have always been its casualties of nonrepresentation—the nameless poor—are to ever matter, given that the state abandoned its nation long ago. Nothing made this more apparent than the mass graves. This overspill of misery had to be contained. The state treats the dead as it does the living. Now rain threatens to wash even more away.
Will the earthquake’s dead ascend and become angels? Too many of them knew: solidarity is improbable.
Agneau de Dieu, qui enlève le péché du monde, donne nous la paix.
Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
14
Haiti’s Electionaval 2010
August 11, 2010 / Huffington Post @ 2:56 p.m.
With Wyclef Jean and Michel Martelly, aka Sweet Micky, (two well-known musicians) in the mix, Haiti’s upcoming election has taken a sardonic turn. The country is currently facing astronomical challenges since the devastating earthquake January 12 and is in desperate need of unprecedented leadership. At home and abroad, everyone is weighing in on the discussion.
A day after Jean’s announcement, Haitian-American journalist Marjorie Valbrun wrote an open letter to him titled “Dear Wyclef: Please Don’t Run” that is going viral.
I was in Port-au-Prince last week where the topic of discussion everywhere was presidential candidates. While I encountered folks who were quick to dismiss the artists as making a mockery of the process, and as a result refused to engage it seriously, others were deeply concerned about what this moment actually reveals about the current state of things in Haiti.
Indeed, the historical neglect of the masses by the elite has brought the country to this point where many people and especially the youth are so disenfranchised and fed up with the political machine that they will put their hope for change in an artist who promises miraculous deliverance.
Thus far, Wyclef has announced that he will use his star power to leverage the undelivered funds from the UN conference last March. As if the issue was only a matter of charisma and conviction. Never mind the last two hundred years of geopolitics. Jean also recently told NPR that Haiti needs a “global president,” and he is the guy. The last thing Haiti needs is an absentee president on a world tour.
On the contrary, if the country is to take a more democratic course, the president must be present, have substantive knowledge of the “local,” and also possess the foresight as well as the know-how necessary to navigate the republic’s long history of sociocultural and economic fragmentation with a structurally disorganized state that has continually exploited its nation. Creating a foundation with Haiti’s noted problems is not a matter of image; being generous and popular does not a president make.
Many of us wonder, who else is behind Jean’s candidacy? Besides using his fame and goodwill, what is the agenda of Viv Ansanm (Live Together), his party? How will he address and alleviate the persistent desperation that has plagued the nation? And in light of the recent report by MADRE, I am particularly curious to hear his take on issues pertaining to the vulnerability of women in the country.
Yesterday,