UNifeed: HAITI / SEXUAL VIOLENCE

HAITI / SEXUAL VIOLENCE

UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) Spokesperson Sylvie van den Wildenberg says that sexual violence in the IDP camps following the earthquake has decreased with the implementation of security measures. MINUSTAH

Duration:02:11Date:21 January 2011

Categories:

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY, DISARMAMENT AND MILITARY QUESTIONS, HUMANITARIAN AID AND RELIEF, PROTECTION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS, DISASTER PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS AND RELIEF, HAITI, United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

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Full Script

STORY: HAITI / SEXUAL VIOLENCE  
TRT: 2.11
SOURCE: MINUSTAH 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / CREOLE / NATS

DATELINE: 20 JANUARY 2011, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE - RECENT, HAITI

1. Various shots, camp life

20 JANUARY 2011, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, Spokesperson, United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH):
"The figures they were giving were concerning five months just in the aftermath of the earthquake. And the comments the UN has made on decrease were done in the very recent months meaning we are not talking about the same period there. But what is important to say is that as Amnesty is putting is that what we see is certainly just a top of the iceberg."

FILE - RECENT, HAITI

3. Various shots, volunteers interviewing victims
4. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Rape Victim: 
"There were five kidnappers who took me, but seven men had raped me. I was afraid to talk after, because I would be stigmatized in the neighborhood that I used to live." 
5. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Rape Victim: 
"After they have raped me I was ashamed and I didn't want to talk about it. But after I got an vaginal infection I got scared and then I decided to talk."
6. Med shot, woman victim walking out of her tent
7. Wide shot, tents in the camp

20 JANUARY 2011, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, Spokesperson, United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH):
"We have put the strategy together since August, very comprehensive strategy with some UN partners and non-UN partners. We observe that there is a decrease in number of cases reported to us, meaning that we have the feeling that our deterrent tool - increasing patrolling of the Blue Helmets, special mechanisms put together by the United Nations police, plus some gender focal points being present 24/7 in some camps identified as high sensitive camps regarding sexual violence. And we have the feeling that all those measures have being paying in the last months."

FILE - RECENT, HAITI

9. Wide shot, camp life

STORYLINE:

The United Nations (UN) mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said that the sexual violence in the camps for the internally displaced in Haiti has decreased with the implementation of security measures.

In response to Amnesty International's recent report on how the risk of rape for women in these camps has increased dramatically over the past year, MINUSTAH's Spokesperson Sylvie van den Wildenberg said that the UN's comments and Amnesty International's figures are not from the "same period."

She said that the organization's comments "on decrease were done in the very recent months" while Amnesty's figures were from the first "five months just in the aftermath of the earthquake."

Most importantly, she added, Amnesty's figures are "certainly just a tip of the iceberg."

The human rights group had consulted with other grassroots organizations working with women and interviewed more than 50 victims in Haiti for the report.

In recent months, MINUSTAH had interviewed several victims of sexual violence in camps in Port au Prince. Two women of the women interviewed said that they were afraid of reporting their cases because they felt ashamed or didn't want to be stigmatized in their communities.

Non-governmental organizations including Amnesty International claim that many rape incidents are not reported to the local police or health authorities.

On security measures, Van den Wildenberg talked about how the UN had implemented a strategy since August 2010 that included an increase in patrol by peacekeepers and the presence of gender focal points in camps identified as high risk.

Since then, a 200-strong UN police unit continues to maintain a permanent presence in six high risk camps sheltering 135,000 people and carries out daily patrols in 70 other priority camps.

She added "we have the feeling that all those measures have being paying in the last months."

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), however, the patrols are not setup for all of the camps in and around Port au Prince. Moreover, informal settlements might be as well served by peacekeepers and aid organizations.

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