World Pulse Magazine - Original Feature

World Pulse Original Feature

Solidarity and Resilience Sprout En Masse After Haitian Rapes

by Anne Sosin

"We are like the bamboo, you can pull out our roots but when the rain comes, we will grow back," they chanted.

For three years, they suffered silently as armed men with masked faces entered their homes and raped them, robbing them of everything they had. But on September 1, 2006, several hundred women survivors defiantly flooded the streets of Port-au-Prince, their own faces masked as they marched in unity to demand an end to the violence that has devastated the lives of thousands of Haitian women.

"Nou menm se wozo, ou mèt rache rasin nou menm lè lapli tonbe nap repouse ankò," they chanted. "We are like the bamboo, you can pull out our roots but when the rain comes, we will grow back."

Along the way, other women felt moved to join them, while onlookers declared how the marchers gave voice to their collective frustration with the surge of rampant violence and absence of justice since February 2004, when a second coup d'état forced elected Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office.

For the women of the Port-au-Prince based group, Komisyon Fanm Viktim pou Viktim (KOFAVIV), the march through the capital and past the National Palace, the Ministry of Justice, and Parliament was two miles of a longer journey to transform the situation of women in Haitian society. The organization was founded by women who became victims of rape during the country's 1991-1994 coup.

Anne Sosin is director/founder of The Commission of Women Victims for Victims, known as KOFAVIV. The women of KOFAVIV recently formed a human rights committee and have organized an intensive human rights training for KOFAVIV members and other grassroots organizations. The committee's goal is to empower women from the poorest groups in the population to assert their rights by providing them the knowledge and tools to carry out a grassroots advocacy campaign. While ending violence against women is one of the women's goals, their agenda encompasses the full spectrum of rights denied to women in Haiti, including the right to health, education, and decent conditions of life.

KOFAVIV, or Commission of Women Victims for Victims, leader Eramithe Delva explains: "When we were victims of rape, there were no organizations to help us. For this reason, many women from poor neighborhoods died of AIDS and were left alone. When we saw that many women were again being raped, we knew that we had to come together to help the victims." In late 2004, she and other former victims established KOFAVIV to respond to the needs of victims they were already supporting informally.

KOFAVIV's founders began by holding group reflection sessions, or solidarity groups, with victims in their neighborhoods. These gatherings were often set against explosions of gunfire from neighborhoods wracked by violence; still, the women persisted in meeting, and the groups swelled as demand for KOFAVIV's services increased.

The organization capitalizes on the strong sense of solidarity and resilience among Haitian women in the face of crisis. KOFAVIV relies on a network of ajan kominotè, or community-based human rights workers, most of whom are survivors of rape from poor neighborhoods themselves. Ajan are responsible for identifying women victims in their community, accompanying them for services, and ensuring they receive necessary peer support.

"When I hear that there is a victim, I go to her house to meet her or send a message for her to come see me if I think she will be afraid for me to visit her in her home.

Rose Marie, an ajan from the neighborhood of Cité Soleil, shares her approach to outreach. "When I hear that there is a victim, I go to her house to meet her or send a message for her to come see me if I think she will be afraid for me to visit her in her home. Then I explain to her that I too am a victim, and that there is a group that can help her. I go with her to KOFAVIV's clinic, to make sure that she feels welcome." The result: women in Cité Soleil and other poor areas who may otherwise have no support find an environment in which they not only receive services, but flourish.

A typical lesson might begin with a reading of one of Aesop's fables and then turn into a larger discussion of current events.

In solidarity sessions, KOFAVIV employs Reflection Circles, a method designed by the Haitian participatory education organization, Limyè Lavi, in which groups reflect on texts as a way of sharing experiences while at the same time learning non-hierarchical forms of interaction and communication skills. A typical lesson might begin with a reading of one of Aesop's fables and then turn into a larger discussion of current events. These methods have become so popular that many women have started their own groups.

"Wonn Refleksyon [Reflection Circles] gives us another model to live and work together," said Helie Lajeuness, an ajan from Martissant. "Women from poor neighborhoods are so often marginalized. In the groups, everyone is equal; there is no authority. When women participate, they learn that what they have to say is important."

For many women, the most important aspect of KOFAVIV is a sense of ownership. "KOFAVIV is not an organization that just provides care for fanm katyè popilè [women from poor neighborhoods]. KOFAVIV is our organization," said Florence, a longtime activist. Florence and her husband were both targeted in 1992 for their involvement in the movement to restore Haitian democracy. Members of FRAPH raped Florence and killed her husband. She has relived the nightmare of rape three times-her teenaged daughter, Myriame, was raped twice in their Lasaline home, and she herself was assaulted again last year. Now, both Florence and Myriame are active as ajan.

More than 300 women actively participate in weekly solidarity group meetings led by ajan. The program now includes literacy courses, a micro-credit program, health education, and psychological support.

"It is only since I started working as an ajan and leading solidarity groups that I have started to recover. When I help other women, I feel strong and confident," Florence said.