BELLADÈRE, Haiti — The day it happened, it was around noon, a man entered the kitchen where Eva is cooking. A friend of her husband, Eva is surprised to see him barge in, armed with a knife. A knife he uses to threaten and beat Eva. Then, he throws her onto the floor and rapes her.
“After he was done, my attacker left quietly with no fear. It was the most terrible day of my life,” Eva, 30, said about the December attack.
Eva, for whom The Haitian Times is using a pseudonym, is a mother of two in Belladère, a border town of at least 60,000 people in Haiti’s Lascahobas region in the Central Department. Her alleged sexual assault is a far too common occurrence in Haiti these days as gang warfare consumes much of the country, causing further dysfunction among police and the judicial system. However, her response to it is an uncommon journey that illustrates the depths of despair women often reach after such attacks. It also highlights her persistence and faith as she pursues justice.
“Fortunately in Haiti, we have laws,” Eva said. “I can also use spiritual powers to go after my attacker. He has to pay for his crime.”
Nationwide, sexual violence has surged as the country has spiraled into years of lawlessness, impunity and a dysfunctional legal system. At least 30% of Haitian women between the ages of 15 and 30 have been victims of sexual abuse or violence, according to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in November 2022.
Belladère has seen numerous sexual assault cases since last year, health organization Zanmi Lasante reported. The group identified 37 cases of rape in Belladère last year, including that of a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old.
Some believe Belladère reflects a broader increase in rape cases in Haiti, though reporting of sexual assaults is inconsistent across the country’s locales. In January 2023, IDETTE, an anti-child trafficking initiative in Haiti, reported 149 cases of rape in 2022, compared to 107 cases in 2021. Among the 2022 victims reported, 131 were girls between 3 and 17 years old. An additional 16 women ages 18 years and older suffered sexual abuse that year, the report said.
For 2023, IDETTE reported about 40 cases of assault in the first quarter.
Still, while human rights and women’s organizations recognize the widespread attacks, sexual violence against women and girls remains a largely hidden problem.
“We have a number of people who have come to see us for psychological and medical support,” explains Pierre Rubens Ernest, a social worker at Zanmi Lasante. “But those do not reflect reality. Most of the time, victims prefer to hide what happened to them.”
A peaceful life shattered
In November, Eva moved from Desvarieux – a town near Belladère – with her new husband, who owns a small telephone sales and repair shop.
She was living a peaceful life until that day last December when everything changed. Besides taking care of her children, Eva was a housekeeper at a hotel in Croix-Fer, a neighborhood in Belladère.
After the attack, Eva separated from her spouse who verbally and mentally assaulted her in the aftermath of the rape. At home – throughout the day and night – Eva said her husband insulted her by accusing her of desiring the rapist.
“My husband didn’t believe me when I told him I was raped,” Eva said. “He thought it was a plan between me and my attacker to deceive [cheat on] him.”
Today, she and her children live with her mother in Desvarieux. Through the shifts, Eva struggled to have a proper investigation and prosecution, a reality that experts say creates lasting trauma for victims. In Haiti’s rural areas, the experts said, the fear of stigma and attitudes of men like Eva’s husband make for an even greater barrier to justice.
Eva, though doubtful the justice system will fully prosecute her alleged aggressor, refuses to be silent. She is determined to pursue her aggressor, whom the Haitian Times isn’t naming because he cannot be reached for comment, legally and through spiritual means. Eva wants him to pay for his crime; but more importantly, she wants to stop him from harming other women.
“I knew that even if the country’s justice system wouldn’t take my case, there are places up in the mountains that I could go to take care of my problems,” said Eva, who recounted her ordeal during an interview in Belladère in January. “So that’s what I did. I made a move, so he would be incarcerated.”
Assaults too common in Belladère
It was in Zanmi Lasante’s healthcare center that Eva sought help the same day after being sexually assaulted. There, she followed a medical treatment to prevent possible infections and sexually transmitted diseases.
“I also needed a medical certificate that would prove the rape and allow me to sue my rapist,” she explains.
Eva’s journey to justice was met with obstacles, such as the corruption of some members of the Haitian National Police (PNH) branch in Belladère, the cost of legal representation and the lack of a support system for victims.
First, Eva filed a complaint with the local police. They asked her for 2,500 gourdes, about $16 USD, to put fuel in their vehicle to go arrest her attacker. Eva did not have that money, so the police did not arrest the man.
Local police did not return a call seeking comment about Eva’s case or to give their account of events.
Organizations familiar with the country’s rural justice say the response is not uncommon. Cases can drag on for years and survivors and witnesses run out of time, money and stamina. Sexual assault crimes can go from badly investigated to not investigated at all, organizations have said.
“Until justice sets an example by severely punishing abusers, men will continue to easily assault and rape women,” said Judge Maguy Florestal, one of eight justices appointed in March to the Cour de Cassation, akin to the country’s Supreme Court.
She encourages victims and their families to file complaints and calls on other women’s aid and women’s rights organizations to support them in the legal proceedings.
“When the victims are accompanied by a human rights organization, their case is taken more seriously,” Florestal said. “We must therefore come together to denounce violence against women. Otherwise, the situation will not change.”
Where police fail, spiritual beliefs get results
Eva decided to keep searching for justice. She visited a Vodou priest, believing strongly that he could help move the case forward and have the perpetrator convicted.
“I went to seek my justice in the hills. I went to see a hougan who assured me that the man will pay for less than the money requested by the police,” she said.
Making the request involved the following steps, Eva recounted: First, she lit a candle – known in Kreyol as “limen lanp” – while saying the name of her rapist that she never blew out. The candle’s wick is made of cotton dipped in “lwil maskriti,” or castor oil, that stands in an orange peel. She spoke over the candle, saying she wanted the arrest and conviction of her attacker.
The spirits did the rest. Eva said her request to the spirits was fruitful.
On the morning of Jan. 6, her rapist walked to the police precinct and asked to be arrested, Eva said. He admitted to the rape and has been in jail for nearly four months waiting for his trial.
The Belladère precinct did not return a Haitian Times message seeking information about Eva’s attempts to get an arrest and any alleged attackers being held in custody.
Seeking a conviction “for good”
Eva said she intends to seek monetary compensation for the damages in the sum of 1.5 million gourdes, about $9,800 USD. This approach reflects advice given to many victims, such as a guide for victims of rape and sexual assault issued by the British government, to file their claims for damages before the court renders a verdict.
If she wins, Eva said she’ll use the funds to pay for legal fees, finish building her mother’s house and start an income-generating opportunity.
For now, her attacker is being held in custody, waiting for a judge to hear the case and pronounce a sentence in three months, according to Eva.
“I don’t want anything to do with men anymore. I will only focus on my two children,” Eva said.
Psychologist Pascal Neri Jean-Charles, president of the Haitian Psychological Association, who works with female victims of rape, said Eva’s attitude is common among young women who have suffered the same trauma. They do not talk about it and remain locked in themselves.
“The women who were raped suffered both physical and psychological aggression,” Jean-Charles said. “They tend to repress what has happened to them and do not want to express themselves.”
The best way to help victims is to offer them a support system, to give them confidence so that they can speak, Jean-Charles said.
“Therapy can really start when the woman really feels ready to talk about what she has been through, to accept it and to understand that it’s not her fault,” he said.
For Eva, vindication won’t come until the end of the trial. These days, she is waiting for the trial, under much stress.
“I don’t want him to rape another woman. We have to stop this man,” she said. “My nightmare will end when he is convicted for good. And if justice fails me, I will go back to the hills for the outcome I want.”
