In a New York Times article bluntly titled "Sexual Assaults Add to Miseries of Haiti's Ruins," Malya Villard, the director of Kofaviv, a grass-roots organization that supports rape victims, describes the situation in Haiti in the aftermath of the January earthquake as "an ideal climate for rape."
Police are overstretched, and convicted sex offenders released by the earthquake are back on the streets, where thousands of people are living without even the most basic security of a locked door to protect them. Women and children are kidnapped and raped and held for ransoms their families cannot pay.
The rage. It boils. I feel utterly, wretchedly helpless.
Doctors Without Borders is treating survivors of brutal sexual assaults. They provide "antibiotics for sexually transmitted diseases, anti-HIV treatment, pills for vaginitis, and over-the-counter painkillers," and they are still in desperate need of support.
Donate to Doctors Without Borders here. Please feel invited to make suggestions in comments regarding other organizations to support, and share ideas about how else to help.
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