Now that most of the media coverage has ended, what’s next for Haiti?
The answer to that question is very complex, but one thing is for sure: the women and young girls of the Caribbean nation are in grave danger.
The sheer devastation of the quake leveled a massive number of homes, which filled the already crowded and precarious tent communities to overflowing. It was the only place displaced residents had to go. The surge in numbers, together with desperation and loss of familial protection, has led to a gut-wrenching increase in violent crimes, rape in particular, putting the nation’s female population in great peril.
There are reports of toddlers being sexually attacked and infected with gonorrhea, teens being gang raped for days, and women being required to have sex for food, which is in very short supply. The nation’s one in 50 HIV infection rate makes these stories even more gruesome.
To compound the problem these women are facing, there is no concerted effort to stop the attacks. The native authorities are aware but don’t have the numbers to provide broad enough protection and authorities brought in from other places to help reportedly only drive past the outskirts of the tangled web of lean-tos that harbor the crimes. Furthermore, the way women are shunned after experiencing rape at predator’s hands — a jaw-dropping cultural practice — gives them absolutely no hope at all.
The aftermath of the quake that killed more than 200,000 has become an afterthought to many around the world, but the female population of Haiti is experiencing unending devastation.
–gerald radford
