{"id":402535,"date":"2010-03-08T06:10:52","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T11:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/?p=126769"},"modified":"2010-03-08T06:10:52","modified_gmt":"2010-03-08T11:10:52","slug":"puerto-rico-haiti-international-womens-day-dedicated-to-haitian-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/402535","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico, Haiti: International Women’s Day Dedicated to Haitian Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around the world, people commemorate International Women's Day<\/a> on March 8th. This year, International Women's Day celebrates it 100th anniversary. In Puerto Rico, and in many countries in Latin America<\/a>, the day will be dedicated to honor and remember the resilience of Haitian women, and the lives of three feminist Haitian activists who died during the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010<\/a>: Myriam Merlet<\/a>, Anne-Marie Coriolan and Magalie Marcelin. <\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Logo of the International Feminist Solidarity Camp in Haiti.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Puerto Rico, the the March 8 Coalition, which includes feminist, political, and labor union grassroots organizations, has launched the blog 8 de marzo en Puerto Rico<\/a> [ES] with a wealth of information on the history of the International Women's Day, and the dozens of events planned for the commemoration<\/a>. Even though there has been debate concerning the necessity of celebrating a “Women's Day”, it is true that inequality, injustice and violence against women are realities around the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Flyer<\/p>\n

Flyer announcing March 8 activities in Puerto Rico. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In these days, bloggers in Puerto Rico have written posts on a diversity of issues concerning women. In Poder, Cuerpo y G\u00e9nero<\/em><\/a> [ES], feminist blogger Nahomi Galindo writes about the recent death of a female inmate in a prison in Puerto Rico:<\/p>\n

\n

Las instituciones carcelarias son s\u00f3lo un ejemplo de formas de control social. Se ha comprobado que estas no reducen la criminalidad; por el contrario, crean un c\u00edrculo vicioso que empieza en el estigma y termina en la reincidencia. Sin embargo, tanto el castigo como el estigma son peores para la mujer, pues al ser confinada transgrede tanto la ley como los roles que la sociedad le ha impuesto.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Penal institutions are another example of a form of social control. It has been proved that these institutions do not reduce criminality. On the contrary, they initiate a vicious circle that begins with the stigmatization of the prisoners and ends with recividism. Nonetheless, the punishment and the stigma are worse for women, because as a prisoner she commits a double transgression: she transgresses the law and the roles society has imposed upon her.<\/div>\n

Blogger and Law student Mariana Iriarte offers statistics of violence against women in Puerto Rico, and writes about women's resilience and strength<\/a> [ES]:<\/p>\n

\n

En Puerto Rico los indicadores de violencia dom\u00e9stica y femicidios son alarmantes. Las estad\u00edsticas m\u00e1s recientes son del 2008 y revelan que 17,074 mujeres han sido v\u00edctimas de violencia dom\u00e9stica, esto sin tener en cuenta los casos que no se reportan a las autoridades estatales; de esas 17,074 mujeres han muerto 26. A esto debe sumarse el maltrato institucional del cual somos v\u00edctimas. No es una novedad que la poblaci\u00f3n que se ha visto m\u00e1s afectada por los despidos del sector p\u00fablico han sido las mujeres, muchas de ellas madres solteras \u00fanico sustento del hogar.<\/p>\n

Ante el embate de las pol\u00edticas neoliberales de la actual administraci\u00f3n las mujeres, a\u00fan siendo las m\u00e1s afectadas, hemos salido a la calle a luchar por nuestros empleos, comunidades, hijos e hijas, libertad sexual y reproductiva, entre muchos otras luchas que hemos dado y seguiremos dando. Parece ser que en los albores de un nuevo milenio las mujeres seguimos y seguiremos enfrentado los retos y desaf\u00edos que se le presentaron a las mujeres en siglos pasados.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

In Puerto Rico, the statistics on domestic violence and femicides are alarming. The most recent statistics are from 2008: 17,074 women were victims of domestic violence (these are only the cases that were reported), and 26 women were killed. We must add to these numbers the instances of institutional abuse to which women are subjected. It is well known that women have been most affected by the lay-offs in the government sector, and many of them are single mothers and heads of their households.<\/p>\n

Confronted with the neoliberal policies of the current administration, women have nonetheless taken the streets to defend their jobs, communities, children, and sexual and reproductive freedom. It seems that at the threshold of a new millennium, women are still confronting many of the same challenges of previous centuries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Nananinas<\/em><\/a> [ES], blogger Nana writes about some of the many roles women perform:<\/p>\n

\n

Cuando hablamos de mujeres trabajadoras no nos referimos \u00fanicamente a las que reciben remuneraci\u00f3n por sus servicios. Cada una, desde su posici\u00f3n particular, realiza un trabajo necesario para la evoluci\u00f3n de la sociedad. Las que cr\u00edan a sus ni\u00f1os y ni\u00f1as para que sean ciudadanos y ciudadanas \u00fatiles y concientes trabajan. Las que conducen autobuses trabajan. Las que cuidan a un familiar enfermo trabajan. Las que dise\u00f1an edificios trabajan. Las que imparten clases trabajan. Las que operan a personas enfermas trabajan. Todas somos trabajadoras.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When we talk about women who work, we are not only referring to the ones who receive a salary. From their specific position, every woman does some kind of work that is indispensable for society\u2019s development. Women who raise their children so one day they may become conscious citizens are working women. Women who drive buses are working women. Women who take care of a sick relative are working women. Women who design buildings are working women. Women who give classes are working women. Women who conduct surgical procedures are working women. We are all working women.<\/div>\n

Working women like these are integral to the rebuilding of Haiti and one blog, Haiti Vox<\/a><\/em>, acknowledges that:<\/p>\n

\n

When I was in Haiti shortly after the quake, I met with Haitian women leaders to talk about their emergency needs and the best way for the global community of women and organizations to support them to reorganize and play a leading role in discussions and forums about Rebuilding Haiti.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The blogger, Anne-christine d'Adesky, began working towards a global grassroots solidarity initiative with the help of Haitian women in the diaspora and feminist leaders and the Poto Mitan: Rebuilding Haiti<\/a> initiative was born. The organization is committed to accelerating the delivery of emergency services, resources, funding, and programs to women, girls and grassroots communities in Haiti and advocates for the implementation of a women- and community-oriented approach to relief and reconstruction that is part of the larger Rebuilding Haiti agenda.<\/p>\n

The group has several activities planned (advocacy, reporting, networking) designed to address the post-disaster and long-term needs of Haitian women affected by the earthquake<\/a>, including participation in today's International Women's Day<\/a> events<\/a>. Their Group and Community Forum<\/a> has more details.<\/p>\n

Janine Mendes-Franco contributed to this post.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around the world, people commemorate International Women's Day on March 8th. This year, International Women's Day celebrates it 100th anniversary. In Puerto Rico, and in many countries in Latin America, the day will be dedicated to honor and remember the resilience of Haitian women, and the lives of three feminist Haitian activists who died during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4991,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-402535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4991"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}