Thomson Reuters Foundation CEO, Monique Villa, received a letter from the Prime Minister of Haiti, Garry Conille, recognising the Foundation's work in the field of violence against women. Haiti's Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the Foundation's engagement towards this issue and acknowledged the contributions made by the research report. "I have received with great satisfaction the research including pertinent recommendations on the application of laws protecting women in Haiti" he wrote.
TrustLaw, the global centre for free legal assistance run by Thomson Reuters Foundation, has brought together four top international law firms to assist women's rights organisation MADRE in tackling an epidemic of rape in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.
As part of Thomson Reuters Foundation's TrustLaw Connect initiative, Morrison & Foerster, DLA Piper, Latham & Watkins and Reed Smith, working probono, produced a legal report on rape legislation. This report, Achieving Justice for Victims of Rape and Advancing Women's Rights, examines international laws on sexual violence and best practices on prosecuting sexual abuse and rape cases from six countries, which could guide and be applied to help Haiti address sexual violence against women.
Haiti is putting the finishing touches on new legislation to tackle a scourge of post-quake sexual violence in a country where rape has only been outlawed since 2005 and rights groups say enforcement is sporadic at best.
Former justice minister Rene Magloire said the final draft of the new legislation is expected to be presented to parliament 'within weeks'.
Haiti's judicial system is largely based on French law dating back to the 19th century. Until 2005, rape was not even considered a crime against the victim. Rather it was a crime against morals -- or against the honour of the family
The new laws, if passed, aim to provide a legal framework for victims of sexual violence to receive better emergency and medical care, place tougher sanctions against all forms of physical violence against women and ensure better training for officials involved in sexual assault cases.
Achieving Justice for Victims of Rape and Advancing Women's Rights was taken to Haiti by one of the Foundation's reporters, Anastasia Moloney, who assisted Madre in delivering the report to Haitian officials and politicians, including Hemanex Gonzague Desir, Director General of the Ministry of Women's Affairs; Senator Steven Benoit, President of the Senate Commission for Justice and Security, and representatives of President Michel Martelly and First Lady Sophia Martelly.
See the full story here and Anastasia's report on justice for Haiti's rape survivors here.
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