Haiti’s women’s organizations remained a powerful and visible force in 2019, navigating the twin challenges of political crisis and the heightened vulnerability that Haitian women and girls faced in an environment of growing insecurity. Women-led organizations across the country continued their work in communities even as the broader political situation deteriorated.
Women made up a significant and vocal segment of the PetroCaribe protest movement, bringing their own perspective to demands for accountability and better governance. Feminist organizations argued that corruption and mismanagement of public resources had a disproportionate impact on women, who bore primary responsibility for household welfare in conditions of poverty and scarcity.
At the same time, women’s rights organizations documented an increase in gender-based violence linked to the political crisis. Situations of civil unrest and state incapacity historically created conditions in which violence against women increased, and 2019 was no exception. Organizations providing services to survivors of gender-based violence reported rising caseloads.
Women leaders across civil society, the church, and community organizations also played a central role in calls for national dialogue and reconciliation. They argued that a political resolution to Haiti’s crisis needed to be inclusive and that women needed to be present at the negotiating table, not as a token gesture but as a recognition of their central role in Haitian society and its future.