This text reflects on the state of post-disaster Haiti and the current feminist movement through the voices of prominent feminist leaders, mainly that of Myriam Merlet, Charles and the discussion she had with Myriam Merlet in 2009 on the issue of Haitian women as both commodities and seller of these commodities (Machan ak Machandiz). Her focus on Merlet and their discussions of women unveils nuanced commentaries on their positionalities within Haitian culture looking at how colour, class, sexualiy and the urban/rural divide shape them.

This article analyzes the unintended consequences of humanitarian and development interventions in Haiti implemented to facilitate its postconflict transition following the period of military rule between 1991 and 1994. International and national governmental and nongovernmental initiatives to provide redress and healing to victims of human rights abuses from this period inadvertently contributed to the growth of a political economy of trauma.

This article compares two protagonists from two different books of fiction: Marie Chauvet’s Colère and Émile Ollivier’s Mère-Solitude. The goal of this comparison is to fully understand the Vodou references that each character embodies, specifically as happy young women who begin to question the political context of their countries. The novels are set during the Duvalier regime and detail the unfortunate outcomes of each of the characters while subtly pointing out the atrocities of women’s conditions during that period of history. (Summary by Mouka)

In 1915, United States marines arrived in Haiti. Their landing signaled the beginning of an occupation that would cripple Haiti long after it ended in 1934. Scholars have offered compelling insights into African American opposition to the erosion of Haitian sovereignty. But this scholarship has prioritized the activism of Black men and male-dominated institutions while deemphasizing the complex reaction of Black women to the occupation. This article highlights that overlooked reaction. It shows that some leading Black women continued to speak of the need to civilize Haiti.

Although men have substantial decision-making power regarding condom use, the majority of HIV knowledge and prevention studies in the general Haitian population have been conducted among youth and women. We investigated attitudes toward intimate partner violence, knowledge of, and use of condoms among 9493 men in Haiti using data from the 2012 nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey. Only 36% of HIV-negative and 44% of HIV-positive men reported using a condom the last time they had had sex.

Objective. To assess factors associated with utilization of maternal health services (MHS) among women giving birth in Haiti from 2007–2012. Methods. Observational data derived from the 2012 Haiti Mortality, Morbidity and Service Use Survey are analyzed. Multilevel analytic methods are used to assess factors associated with use of antenatal services and skilled birth attendance (SBA). Results. The strongest adjusted predictors include child’s birth rank, household poverty, and community media saturation.

Engagement in sexual activity among Haitian youth is increasing. The present cross-sectional study examined the independent correlates of sexual risk behaviors among 200 (108 male/92 female) 13–18 year-old adolescents in Port-au-Prince, Haiti using face-to-face interviews. The majority (60.0 %) had engaged in sexual intercourse.

Selon certaines analystes, le mouvement des femmes, leurs voix et leurs priorités ont été largement déplacées par les agences internationales en Haïti, à la suite du séisme qui a frappé le pays en janvier 2010. Cette critique s’insère dans des analyses postcoloniales plus larges, de la marginalisation ou l’instrumentalisation des forces vives du Sud par des agences internationales, notamment dans les États qui se trouvent dans des situations fragiles ou en conflit.

Today, after twenty years of active and visible work on the national scene, Haitian feminism is at a crossroads. My paper seeks to address the nature of this crossroads, which I believe is at an impasse between legal reform and cultural shifts that have lagged behind the movement that occasioned structural change at the State level. Complicating this impasse further has been the effects of foreign policy between the US and Haiti that has unduly impacted the agricultural sector, especially rice production, an exclusively female domain historically.

This journal is an introduction to a discussion on the complex lives and experiences of women of colour and the past generations that describes what led them to where they are today. Chancy pays homage to the many women who do not have access to academic forums, but have impacted the lives of writers, artists and activists. Through the narrative of grandmothers, she relates the protaginism of women of colour in unstable times.