In this chapter the author constructs an alternate way of teaching about Haitian womanhood which creates a more nuanced and developed understanding of the many lives Haitian women may lead. The Kreyol saying “fanm se poto mitan” is well known in Haiti to mean that women are the central pillar that uphold society, they are indispensable, strong and resilient. However, Jean-Charles argues that the poto mitan is a restrictive representation of Haitian women that expresses the burdens that they must take on as the unwavering pillar.

This chapter of Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography briefly covers the life of Myriam Merlet describing her academic career in Canada and Haiti during the years she lived under the Duvalier regime. It describes her research on the living conditions of Haitian women, highlighting her academic and activist accomplishments as well as the various feminist groups and people she collaborated with in her research and collective actions. (Summary by Mouka)

La Voix des Femmes: Haitian Women’s Rights, National Politics, and Black Activism in Port-au-Prince and Montréal, 1934-1986 is a response to the haunting absence of scholarly attention to Haitian women in Caribbean and North American political history in the twentieth century. I consider the ways in which elite and middle-class Haitian women’s concepts and practices of activism and feminism both emerged from and influenced debates on race, nationalism, and international politics among black activists in Haiti and North America during the U.S.

1. This report considers and informs on the real situation of women’s rights under the Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) focusing on particular issues in Haiti. The report addresses the following issues: low representation of women in political life, including the 2015 elections (Article 7); sexual harassment and other derogatory treatment in work (Article 11); the disproportionate impact of cholera on women (Article 12); and problems facing rural women (Article 14).

In a climate of deep insecurity and escalating violence, Haitian women, the backbone of Haitian society and economy, are facing insurmountable challenges. Although Haitian women support the majority of Haiti’s economic activities and hold families together throughout the country, they have historically occupied an inferior social position.

This document provides a gendered perspective for communities affected by environmental natural disasters so as to reduce the impacts and risks that come with prolonged vulnerability. The report goes into various statistics to justify and explain the humanitarian aid necessary to lessen the harmful consequences that come from natural disasters in Haiti. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the measures that are needed to be implemented before a natural disaster happens to minimize the severe effects that women face during such disasters. (Summary by Mouka)

The twentieth century saw a wide range of struggles for women’s empowerment and equality in Haiti. In this excerpt, Carolle Charles focuses on the politicization and the consequent victimization of Haitian women under Duvalier. Exploring the phenomena of indiscriminate violence and repression as generative of political being, Charles unpacks the means by which the Duvalierist state ironically transformed women into more politicized, albeit more vulnerable, citizens.

This dissertation applies the theoretical perspective of gender relations and develops methods to understand and analyze the movement of women from the center of social systems to its margins when these systems are undergoing rapid socio-economic and political change. This research responded to the pressing need for the application of newer, more appropriate theoretical and methodological perspectives to examine shifting power relations between women and men in areas undergoing transformation.