Gender and Violence in Haiti: Women's Path from Victims to Agents

Women in Haiti are frequent victims of sexual violence and armed assault. Yet an astonishing proportion of these victims also act as perpetrators of violent crime, often as part of armed groups. Award-winning legal scholar Benedetta Faedi Duramy visited Haiti to discover what causes these women to act in such destructive ways and what might be done to stop this tragic cycle of violence.

Gender and Violence in Haiti is the product of more than a year of extensive firsthand observations and interviews with the women who have been caught up in the widespread violence plaguing Haiti. Drawing from the experiences of a diverse group of Haitian women, Faedi Duramy finds that both the victims and perpetrators of violence share a common sense of anger and desperation. Untangling the many factors that cause these women to commit violence, from self-defense to revenge, she identifies concrete measures that can lead them to feel vindicated and protected by their communities.

Faedi Duramy vividly conveys the horrifying conditions pervading Haiti, even before the 2010 earthquake. But Gender and Violence in Haiti also carries a message of hope--and shows what local authorities and international relief agencies can do to help the women of Haiti.


Author: Benedetta Faedi Duramy
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 04/22/2014
Pages: 188
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.62lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.43d
ISBN: 9780813563145

About the Author
BENEDETTA FAEDI DURAMY is an associate professor of law at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. She has received numerous awards for her research on gender-based violence and has authored several book chapters and articles on human rights, gender issues and children's rights.