27092: Re: 27033: Michel (reply) Kawolina Domestic Violence in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Dear friends,

The should be a national dialogue on the uses of violence in Haiti and the
casualness of gendered violence in the Haitian communitie(s). Under the
veneer of tradition(s)(as if we can't pick and choose) a lot of violence
both physical and mental seems to be casually embedded in Haitian social
practices, but I also remember someone told me that the 'tradition' of wife
burning in India stopped when the British IMPOSED their 'tradition' of
hanging wife burners. I understand that Haiti and the Haitian communities
have a lot of cultural practices travelling through our social sphere and
that there is also a strong at time 'pushy' matriarchal 'tradition' from our
African fore mothers that is an essential part and in tension with a
phalocratic Latin-creole super structure but enough is enough. Perhaps a
quota of 50% and up for the security forces in Haiti and a mandate for
direct interference in situation of gendered violence( a la Brazil) would go
a long way toward mediating the problem. Perhaps a stated commitment to
50%(I'm not sure of the percentage of women in Haiti) of political; office
holders and receivers of government contracts would also be helpful Seizure
of property or heavy fines and jail terms for those who offer employment for
sexual favors would be another important step.

Sincerely,

Jean-Marie Herve Michel, Jr