Since 2018, widespread and systematic attacks have been committed in Haiti against civilians in disadvantaged neighborhoods, including killings and torture. The worst forms of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls have alarmingly increased. The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner concluded in a report that armed gangs in Haiti use sexual violence, including collective rapes, to “instill fear, punish, subjugate, and inflict pain on local populations with the ultimate goal of expanding their areas of influence, throughout the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.” Armed gangs have gained control over large parts of the territory, and the justice system is struggling to prosecute and sanction human rights violators. The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Latin American Network for Gender-based Strategic Litigation (ReLeG), and the American University War Crimes Research Office hosted an event on sexual violence in Haiti in the context of organized crime. 

Moderator: Claudia Martin, Co-director and Professorial Lecturer in residence, Academy of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C.

Gloria Carrera Massana, Member of the United Nations Team of Experts: Rule of Law - Sexual Violence in Conflict, presented the main findings and recommendations of OHCHR-BINUH’s report “Sexual violence in Port-au-Prince: A weapon used by gangs to instill fear.”  

Laura Gálvez Castrillo, OHCHR-BINUH Human Rights Officer in Haiti, presented follow-up actions to the report, including a new sanction regime with sexual violence as a standalone criterion, and new trends of sexual violence committed in this context. 

Pascale Solages, General coordinator of Nègès Mawon, shared the experience and lessons learned of a Haitian feminist organization in assisting women survivors of sexual violence in deprived neighborhoods and her recommendations to address sexual violence in the current political context.  

Lovely Jean Louis, Director of Legal Affairs of the Collective of Lawyers specializing in Human Rights Strategic Litigation, concluded the event with a presentation on the fight against impunity of sexual violence committed in the context of organized crime.  

You can access the video here.