The Hidden Epidemic: Violence against Women in Haiti
Abstract
Since the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, violence against women has frequently
appeared in the media as one of the gravest consequences due to insecure living situations
in settlement camps. This, however, is not newly arisen issue and has been occurring
in the country at relatively high rates prior to the disaster. Violence against women
presents an unconventional portrait in Haiti, meaning the characteristics of the situation
run counter to the usual circumstance of violence in which the poorest and least educated
form the majority of victims. This stems from Haiti’s climate of insecurity, which
is composed of economic, social and political instabilities and imposes extremely
challenging living conditions on its population. The climate of insecurity produces
two social mechanisms—the crisis of masculinity and the feminization of insecurity—that
make women vulnerable to violence, especially sexual assault. Gender-based violence
in turn leads to traumatic consequences that perpetuate the climate of insecurity
by engendering an environment of fear on the part of the victim. Thus, the violence
against women and the climate of insecurity in Haiti are in a cyclical relationship
in which one drives the other.
Description
Honors thesis for International Comparative Studies
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
International Comparative StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3738Citation
Kang, Ju Yon (2011). The Hidden Epidemic: Violence against Women in Haiti. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3738.Collections
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