Transcript Haiti - Randolph College

Haiti
What is life like for
Caribbean women?
Kesha, Kim, Melissa, Pheabe & Sai
Haiti
Haiti
Haitian Development Statistics
Demographics:
• Population 7,803,000
• Annual Growth Rate ~2.1%
• Expected Population (20-30 years) over 12.5 million
Quality of Life:
• Infant Mortality Rate 95.23 deaths/1000 live births
• Fertility Rate 4.4 children born/woman
• Life Expectancy at Birth 49.38 years (total)
– For Women 51.17 years
– For Men 47.67 years
• Maternal Mortality Rate 600/100,000 annual live births
• HIV/AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate 5.17%
• People Living with AIDS 210,000
Haitian Development Statistics
(continued)
Economic Structure:
•
•
•
•
National GDP (PPP) $12.7 billion
% GDP from Exports 12.4%
GDP Per Capita $1,800
Export Composition by Sector
– Agriculture 32%
– Industry 20%
– Services 48%
• % of Population Below the Poverty Line 80%
Education:
• Adult Literacy Rate 48% (total)
– For Women 46%
– For Men 50%
Women & Education
• Haiti’s postcolonial leaders promoted education, at
least in principle. The 1805 constitution called for a
free and compulsory primary education.
• The Concordat was signed with the Vatican in 1860
• The Roman Catholic Church sent clerical teachers
from France, Vatican City.
– They concentrated their lessons on promoting the
greatness of France, the backwardness of Haiti, and
the lack of capacity for self rule.
• The curriculum remained basically unchanged until
the 1980’s.
Women & Education
• In the majority of
Latin America & the
Caribbean, 95% of
children attend
primary school.
• In Haiti & Bolivia,
only 70% of children
attend primary
school.
Women & Education
• Only 1 out of 4 children have
a place to sit in a classroom.
• mid 1980’s –
– More than ½ of Haiti’s urban
population primary school
students dropped out.
– In rural areas, the dropout
rate was 80%.
• Dropout and repetition rates
are so high, 3 out of 5
primary school students are
in the 1st or 2nd grade.
Women’s Literacy
•
Only about 30% of Haitian children
ever begin school, and of the 30%,
only 2% stay in school beyond the 5th
grade.
– These are usually the children of the elite.
• Illiteracy rate is the highest in the
Americas.
Multiple Benefits of Girl’s Education
•
•
•
•
•
Increased family incomes
Later marriages
Reduced fertility rates
Reduced infant and maternal mortality rates
Better nourished & healthier children &
families
• Greater opportunities & life choices for
women (inc. better chances to protect
themselves against HIV/AIDS)
Promoting Health through
Education of Women
“In study after study done around the world, the
single most important investment any country can
make in improving social and economic conditions
is to invest in girls’ and women's education.”
Hilary Clinton
Nov. 21, 1998
“Haiti’s educational system has utterly failed for
as many as half of the nation’s children.”
Sheldon Shaeffer
of UNICEF
Women’s Health
• Health Expenditure  $21 /capita (in US $)
• Malnourishment: (one of the major causes of childhood deaths)
– In 1978  77% of children in Haiti
– In 1995  28% of children in Haiti
•
•
•
•
Other major causes of death
85% of adult population live in malarial areas
In 1984  < 20% of population had toilets or latrines
Only ¼ rural population had access to potable water
Women’s Health & AIDS
• In 1987  1500 suffered from AIDS in Haiti
• In 1997  190,000 suffered from AIDS in Haiti
– This is approx. 5.17% of the entire country.
• In 1987  2 out of every 5 AIDS patients in Haiti
were women
• Many cases contracted through heterosexual
intercourse and routine blood transfusions with
unscreened blood to women after childbirth
• At least 70% of the female prostitutes are infected
Health Services
• Concentrated in the capital area
• 1 doctor for every 6,600 people
• 1 nurse for every 8,000 people
– In the poorest areas, 1 doctor for 21,000 people
– That would be the equivalent to there being 337 in
the state of Virginia
(for a population of 7,078,515)
Domestic Violence Against Women
• Violence accepted as normal behavior
• No special legislation on domestic violence
exists
• Quite prevalent across classes
• Most common forms are battering and
psychological assault
• Justified by men as a result of female
disrespect
• Violence goes unreported 66% of the time
Sexual Violence Against Women
• Rape is a crime, but not a serious one
– Marital rape is not a crime
– Sexual harassment is hardly considered a
violation
• Existing laws place blame on women
• No rehabilitation programs for
women/girls in prostitution
Political Violence Against Women
• Cycle of violence occurs:
– When women support, or are related to
supporters of, democracy
– In the evening, in the victims’ homes
– By attackers who are masked men, usually
dressed in military uniform
• Violate women, abduct the men of the house,
leave victims to fend for themselves
• Results in psychological trauma,
socioeconomic problems, and STDs,
including HIV/AIDS
Economics
History
• Most Haitian and Caribbean women came to the
Caribbean either as slaves from Africa or as
indentured servants from India.
• Women of African and Indian descent, were
offered release from the patriarchal control of
individual men in their own households when
forced to work alongside the men as equals in the
fields.
• After slavery, the Haitian and Caribbean woman’s
participation in the labor force continued to be
very high despite pressures to conform to the
Victorian ideology of “housewifization.”
The Global Feminization Of Labor
The Factory Workers
•
Working Conditions:
1)
2)
3)
•
Low wages (36 gourdes per hour = US$1.30)
No fringe benefits
No unions permitted
Factors influencing suitability of Haitian and Caribbean
females for assembly type employment:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
The industry is labor-intensive
Women are less likely to unionize
Women are cheaper to employ
Women are more patient
Women have fewer employment options due to the gendered
nature of their education
The Global Feminization Of Labor
(continued)
The Small Farmer
1) Usually female and made worse off by the new
export oriented agricultural which benefits larger
male farmers
2) Hold on domestic market threatened by import of
food
3) Little access to credit and foreign market
The Global Feminization Of Labor
(continued)
The Entrepreneur
•
Economically marginalized due to negative
perceptions of female economic behavior by local
and international officials who shape policy and
allocate funds. Perceptions include:
1) Concentration in female type endeavors
2) Fear of expansion and partnership
3) Overemphasis on employing female or family
workers
4) Risk aversion
5) Work/home role conflict
The Result Of Women’s Participation
In The Economy—The Double Paradox
• Paradox #1:
– Female autonomy as expressed in their labor force and
the matrilocal and matrifocal structures exists within
larger structure of patriarchy through male political
dominance
• Paradox #2:
– Patriarchy in absentia-the result of matrilocal residential
patterns and gender specific migration
• Ideological conflict between female economic autonomy and
the Victorian concept of “housewifization”
• New demand for female labor has increased education and
decreased fertility
Recommendations For Female
Economic Empowerment
1) Microlending:
•
•
•
Structure and implementation – The Trickle Up program in Haiti
Necessary because most women in poverty cannot access real
banks due to lack of collateral and confidence
Evidence of Success—
1) In February 1997 over 600 microlending agencies operating in over
140 developing countries met for the world micro credit summit
2) The constant access to capital allows women to build businesses
slowly but surely
3) Acting as their own bankers builds confidence and offers group
support
4) positive social impact: better quality food, clothing and education
for their children
Recommendations For Female
Economic Empowerment
2) Creating backward linkages:
•
Small women farmers can potentially play a
large role in creating a necessary backward link
between agriculture and tourism
3) Literacy in all its forms:
•
Technological, academic, social, political and
financial will provide women with resources as
yet unavailable to them and will empower them
to more wisely use the resources that are
available
Politics
History
• All over the world women find it difficult to vote
• Ironically women make up 50% of the world’s population
• Women are not welcome or easy additions to the political
process. Some of the challenges they face range from:
• The dominance of the patriarchal system
• The lack of total saturation into the political party
• Limited or no contact with public organizations such as trade
unions, women’s association and NGOs
• The lack of educational programs geared towards strengthening
female leadership
• Cultural mores that dictate that political careers are for men;
further attributing to women’s low self esteem and confidence
The Structure of the Haitian
Political System
• Haiti is a Republic
• There are about 60 political parties, of which 29
are registered. Some of these parties are:
– Alliance pour l'Avancement d'Haïti (ALAH),
Reynold Georges
Alliance for the Advancement of Haiti
– Congrès National des Mouvements Démocratiques (KONAKOM),
Victor Benoît
National Congress of Democratic Movements
– Organisation du Peuple en Lutte (OPL),
[précédemment "Organizasyon Politik Lavalas"]
Gérard Pierre-Charles
Organization of the People in Struggle
Political Parties
(continued)
– Fanmi Lavalas,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Lavalas Family
– Front National pour le Changement et la Démocratie
(FNCD),
Evans Paul
National Front for Change and Democracy
– Mouvement pour l'Organisation du Pays (MOP),
Gesner Comeau, Jean Molière
Movement for the Organization of the Country
– Pati Louvri Barye (PLB),
Renaud Bernardin
Open the Gate Party
Influence of Religion on
Politics
• Haiti has a long history of dictatorship and
poverty; the masses have depended on
religion for help
– 95% of the population in Roman Catholic
– The masses practice Voodoo (black magic)
– The politics of religion in Haiti is best personified in
the Reverend Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Women’s Right to Vote
• Haitian women were given the right to
vote and stand for election in 1950
• The Duvalier Regime (1957-1986) took
this franchise away
Women in Major Political Positions
• Haiti’s first female president, Ertha Truillot
– The first female High Court Judge (1986-90)
– Brought to power by the U.S. Embassy
• Claudette Werleigh, economist
–
–
–
–
Became Minister of Social Affairs (1990-91)
The first woman prime minister of Haiti
Foreign Minster of Haiti
Later on she became an UN official
• Lise Marie Dejean
– Minister of the Feminine Condition and Women’s Rights
Women in Major Political Positions
• Marie-Laurence Lassegue
– Former Minister of Information
– Current member of the provisional Electoral council
• Presently, there are 5 women in the AristideNeptune government under:
–
–
–
–
–
The Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports
The Ministry of Social Affairs
The Ministry of Tourism
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Secretary of State for Literacy
Women’s Organization and the
Political Process
• International Women’s Democracy
Center (IWDC) in Haiti
• Haitian Women in Solidarity (SOFA)
• FANM YO LA – Women are here!
• Hope for Haiti Foundation (Grassroots
Female Empowerment)
Suggestions for Political
Advancement
• Women’s Organizations
• Simplified bureaucratic procedures
• Implementing a quota system
SOFA (Haitian Women’s Solidarity)
Declared the following to be women’s rights,
synonymous with human rights:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The right to life;
The right to organize;
The right to speech;
The right to justice;
The right to control their bodies;
The right to education;
The right to their own space;
The right to participate in national political decisions;
The right to live as people, as women.
March 1995