My dissertation is the first project on the Haitian Platform for Advocacy for an Alternative Development- PAPDA, a nation-building coalition founded by activists from varying sectors to coordinate one comprehensive nationalist movement against what they are calling an Occupation. My work not only provides information on this under- theorized popular movement but also situates it within the broader literature on the postcolonial nation-state as well as Latin American and Caribbean social movements.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the least studied HIV-related risk factors in Haiti although research in the United States and Europe has clearly established the link between childhood trauma and HIV risk behaviors. Understanding the role and impact of CSA on HIV-positive Haitian women is likely to strengthen future HIV prevention and treatment efforts aimed at this vulnerable group.

Among women in Haiti, there are a number of factors, including intimate partner violence (IPV), childhood sexual abuse, and alcohol abuse that lead to increased vulnerability to STI/HIV and its sequelae. This study examined the factors associated with IPV and the associations between IPV and HIV in a sample of adult Haitian women.