Various HAWG members have provided input to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
First, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Nègès Mawon, and the Global Justice Clinic (GJC) at the New York University School of Law responded to the call for inputs on violence against women and girls in the context of the climate crisis.
Key inputs include:
(i) the link between the social marginalization of Haitian women and girls and their vulnerability to the climate crisis;
(ii) the increased vulnerability of women and girls to violence and sexual exploitation and abuse in in the context of climate disasters, especially situations of displacement;
(iii) the risk of disaster response sidelining efforts to combat violence against women and promote gender equality; and
(iv) the positive impact on disaster preparedness and response from women’s involvement and greater gender equality more generally.
They provide corresponding recommendations. Read their submission to the UN Special Rapporteur here.
Second, the Global Justice Clinic and Solidarite Famn Ayisyèn (SOFA) submission, also co-signed by IJDH, highlights how land grabbing against women in Haiti constitutes gender-based violence, and how it is aggravating climate vulnerability. This submission discusses the violent dispossession of SOFA members from land in Savane Diane, in the center of Haiti. SOFA was using the land to teach women ecologically sustainable farming techniques and support their economic autonomy. The land grab has exposed women in the area to compounding human rights violations and environmental degradation.
You can read this submission here. It is available in French and Spanish, and a Kreyòl version will be on their website soon. Their press release is available in English, Kreyol, and Spanish.
Thank you all for this amazing work!