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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Duarte, Media Coordinator,Phone: +1 212 627 0444,Email:,media@madre.org

MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict Launch International Petition

International community joins forces with Haitian civil society to support legal reform combating violence against women

NEW YORK

Today, MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict are launching a petition to raise international support for a ground-breaking push to address violence against women in Haiti.

Haiti's government is now considering a legal reform measure that would be a landmark in efforts to address violence against women and provide a model for nations striving to stop rape. Crucially, it prohibits and punishes all sexual assault, including marital rape.

Today's petition launched by MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict echoes the call of Haitian women's rights activists, who have spent years leading an on-the-ground effort to promote passage of the legal reform.

The launch of this petition follows on the heels of a workshop in Port-au-Prince, Haiti to raise awareness and rally support for the passage of the legal reform by the Haitian Parliament this spring.

The workshop served as a forum for knowledge-exchange with international and local experts. Rashida Manjoo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, was a featured panelist.

Passage of this legal reform would represent a huge step forward for gender equality in Haiti. Click here to read the text of the petition.

Available for interview:

Yifat Susskind, MADRE Executive Director, works with women's human rights activists from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, creating programs to address violence against women, economic development, climate change, armed conflict and more.

MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that partners with community-based women's groups to advance women's human rights, challenge injustice and create social change in contexts of war, conflict, disaster and their aftermath. MADRE advocates for a world in which all people enjoy individual and collective human rights; natural resources are shared equitably and sustainably; women participate effectively in all aspects of society; and all people have a meaningful say in policies that affect their lives. For more information about MADRE, visit www.madre.org.