AFTERSHOCKS : Women speak out against sexual violence in Haiti’s camps

One year after the January 2010 earthquake that killed 230,000 people and injured 300,000, more than one million people still live in appalling conditions in tent cities in the capital Port-au-Prince and in the south of Haiti, where women are at serious risk of sexual attacks. Those responsible are predominantly armed men who roam the camps after dark. More than 250 cases of rape in several camps were reported in the first 150 days after the earthquake. This report includes many testimonies of survivors of sexual violence in Haiti’s camps. Amnesty International is calling for the new government to urgently take steps to end violence against women as part of a wider plan to address the humanitarian effort. The report states that women in the camps must be fully involved in developing any such plan. Immediate steps include improving security in the camps and to ensure police are able to respond effectively and that those responsible are prosecuted.