End the Survival Sex Trade in Haiti
Women displaced by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti are now facing a new crisis, as many resort to exchanging sex for food, in order to care for their children. Roughly 300,000 women and girls remain homeless and in extreme poverty, making the survival sex trade their only option.
As international organizations remove the temporary services that were made available after the earthquake, girls as young as 13 are trading sex for food or access to education. Most of the sexual transactions take place between young girls and men who hold positions of power in displacement camps, including managers of food supplies and men in charge of educational programs.
Act now to call on Haitian President Michel Martelly to take immediate action to end this crisis. Urge him to follow the recommendations of human rights groups by allocating more resources to grassroots coalitions, restructuring the judicial system to combat sexual exploitation, and ensuring that women and girls have access to jobs, microcredit, and free education.
We the undersigned call on you to take immediate action to end the survival sex trade among women and girls displaced by the 2010 earthquake. Girls as young as 13 are trading sex for food or access to education, as they are exploited by men who hold positions of power in displacement camps. We urge you to follow the recommendations of human rights groups to help women and girls in extreme poverty by allocating more resources to grassroots coalitions, restructuring the judicial system to combat sexual exploitation, and ensuring that women and girls have access to jobs, microcredit, and free education.
