Two years after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, buildings and infrastructure aren’t the only things in need of repair. The country’s legal system, which limped along even before the quake, is getting a major overhaul and the latest piece of legislation promises to protect women and girls from the scourge of rape and sexual violence.

“The new law aims to allow the state and other actors to find common ground on how to treat and help victims,” Hemanex Gonzague, director general of the Haitian women’s ministry, told TrustLaw. “It’s an important step to improve women’s rights in general and it aims to provide greater protection to victims through the whole process.”

In Haiti, rape has only been a recognized crime since 2005 and, according to rights groups, sexual crimes against women skyrocketed in the chaos that followed the earthquake.

Amnesty International documented more than 250 cases of rape in the tent camps within the first 150 days following the earthquake and Kofaviv, a grassroots women’s group, reported 49 rape cases last month alone — more than half involving children.

“The draft legislation includes many new provisions crucial to ensuring Haitian women and girls are protected. These provisions include a clear and expanded definition of rape, incest and sexual violence, and trainings for medical, legal and judiciary personnel and enforcement officers around questions of violence against women.” Lisa Davis, human rights advocacy director at women's rights group MADRE, told TrustLaw.

The bill also aims to give more power to the police and prosecutors involved in investigating cases of sexual assault, requiring the police to gather evidence, rather than letting judges lead the investigations.

Now that the groundwork is complete, advocates must wait for Haiti’s legislative mechanism to settle the rest.

“I’ll present the final draft to parliament within weeks,” said Rene Magloire, a former justice minister who now leads the drafting of new laws on sexual violence as part of a presidential commission on judicial reform, according to TrustLaw. “How long it takes to vote on and become law depends on parliament.”

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(Photo: REUTERS/Swoan Parker)