Workshops help Haitian women cope with trauma of ongoing gang violence

In recent days, a group of women took part in workshops in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, to help them cope with the trauma of daily life.

The country is ravaged by ongoing gang violence which takes an emotional and psychological toll on families.

More than 700,000 people have been internally displaced in Haiti, over 100 thousand because of the surge in fighting over the past nine months.

Women and children have been particularly vulnerable to the gang violence that increased from early 2023.

This year, gangs took control of 85 per cent of the neighbourhoods in the capital.

In the workshops, women do several exercises using cognitive therapy and meditation to help with trauma and anxiety.

One of the exercises sees them tap their shoulders, arms, and head in unison as they listen to calming music.

The five-day workshops have been organised by UNESCO, in partnership with the Haitian Psychology Association and the Solidarity of Haitian Women Journalists.

UNESCO’s head of office in Haiti, Eric Voli Bi, said at the opening that he hoped they would "provide the victims with the tools to rebuild their lives" and address their “invisible wounds".

The United Nations says the expansion of criminal group activity in Haiti has contributed to a sharp rise in gender-based violence, including sexual violence, primarily targeting girls and women.

Psychologist Esther Josiane Mathelye pointed out that displacement has also been a significant factor of trauma.

“It is stressful for them to have to leave after 14 to 16 years in a neighbourhood where they had a life and a community,” Mathelye says.

After losing her house during the 2010 earthquake, former radio broadcaster Yolande Day, moved three times until she found a home in Croix-de-Bouquet.

Earlier this year, it was taken over by gangs and where she still lives.

“Not to say that the gangs are my neighbours, but I meet them every day. I talk to them every day,” says Day.

She says the workshops have taught her to control her stress and how to laugh when it comes back”.

“They helped us. We didn’t know before these sessions that these exercises really help. The way I arrived, I'm not going back the same way,” she says.

The initiative, funded by the Global Media Defence Fund and the US Department of State, also aims to assist female journalists in Haiti.

This effort is part of a UNESCO strategy to safeguard those who sustain culture and information in Haiti.