by Jessica Ravitz
Date: 20 January 2010
Source: CNN
Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan, founders of three of the country's most important advocacy organisations working on behalf of women and girls, are confirmed dead, victims of the earthquake.
Myriam Merlet, 53, was until recently the chief of staff of Haiti's Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women, established in 1995, and still served as a top adviser. An author and activist, she fled Haiti in the 1970s. She studied in Canada, steeping herself in economics, women's issues, feminist theory and political sociology. In the mid-1980s, she returned to Haiti and founded Enfofamn, an organisation that raises awareness about women through media, collects stories and works to honour their names.
Magalie Marcelin, a lawyer and actress, established Kay Fanm, a women's rights organisation that deals with domestic violence, offers services and shelter to women and makes microcredits, or loans, available to women working in markets. Two years ago she urged women to pack a courtroom in Haiti, where she succeeded in getting a guilty verdict against a man who battered his wife.
With Merlet, Anne Marie Coriolan, 53, served as a top adviser to the women's rights ministry. She was the founder of Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Haitian Women, or SOFA), an advocacy and services organisation. Coriolan was a political organiser who helped change the law to make rape, long a political weapon in Haiti, a punishable crime.
With the three leaders gone, there is concern about the future of Haiti's women and girls. Before the disaster, a survey of Haitian women and girls showed an estimated 72% had been raped and 40% were victims of domestic violence. Humanitarian emergencies have been linked to increased violence and exploitation and it is essential that womenâs protection is guaranteed.
