KOFAVI women's group: "We are victims, although we are also survivors and activists"

Two of the founding members are Eramithe Delva and Malya Villard. They met in 1993 through the Committee of Women to Fight for Justice, their stories of being brutally abused frighteningly similar. Both had been political activists living in the Martissant neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, and both had been violently raped and assaulted, and seen their husbands beaten to death because of their activism. Motivated not only by their own experiences, but also by the alarming increase in rapes seemingly related directly to the current political instability in the country, the women decided to set up an organisation to address the medical and psychological needs of rape victims. Incidents of rape have escalated sharply in Haiti in recent years. Hundreds of women report rapes each month, and many more incidents of violence against women go unreported. For poor women, there is no refuge from the threat of rape. Rapes occur in broad daylight and late at night, in market areas, transport vehicles, police stations, and private homes. To address these grave abuses of women's human rights, KOFAVIV works to meet rape survivors' immediate needs and help them create long-term strategies to ensure their safety, health, and well-being.

'I Am One of Many' is one of KOFAVIV's projects with rape survivors in poor neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince, most of whom do not read or write, live in sub-standard housing, and lack access to basic services, including health care, clean water, and electricity. Like all violence against women, rape has a devastating effect on the lives of women who already live on the margins of survival. Many survivors suffer from ongoing medical consequences of the rape but lack the resources to seek medical treatment. KOFAVIV provides high-quality, free medical care and counseling for rape survivors, including testing and treatment for STIs, pre-natal care for women who become pregnant as a result of rape, and medical certificates for survivors, which are important for prosecuting perpetrators in court.

KOFAVIV'S Community Human Rights Workers reach out to women in many distressed communities to encourage them to seek medical help and counselling to get through their trauma. In just one year, through 25 active community workers, KOFAVIV has managed to treat more than 350 women.

Solange, a KOFAVIV community worker in Martissant, firmly believes that many women who are rape victims are benefiting from the programme. "When I was raped in 1992, I did not have access to something like this. I am proud to be able to support other victims in this way."

KOFAVIV creates and supports solidarity groups, providing informal social and psychological support for rape survivors. The groups are designed to provide mutual emotional support and to encourage members to begin undertaking collective action to fight gender-based violence.

Rape is not only physically and emotionally devastating; it is also often economically disastrous for poor women. When women are raped in their homes, aggressors frequently kill or kidnap males or other women in the household, steal money and commercial goods, and burn or destroy the house or property, which is often their only means of economic survival. This extreme physical and economic insecurity leaves women highly vulnerable to further abuses. KOFAVIV works with a micro-credit organisation to facilitate women's access to economic resources and generate much-needed income for themselves and their families.

In spite of all they have achieved, the women at KOFAVIV know this is only the tip of the iceberg. "We often reflect on our objectives, and we know there is so much more to be done," says Eramithe Delva.

When asked why they insist on calling themselves victims, Delva and Malya Villard say that it is because they have yet to see full justice. "We are not afraid to say we are victims, although we are also survivors and activists. Because victims do not have justice, and until we receive justice, we will continue to be victims."

Sources: MADRE and UNIFEM

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'Ideas and Action - Projecting the voices of Haiti's progressive civil society organisations' is a Haiti Support Group project funded by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).

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The Haiti Support Group is a British organisation working in solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for human rights, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.

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