Haitian Women in Public: Good Governance, Sound Elections & Cultural Mindfulness

• In Event: Poster Session: Politics and History & International History and Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: International History and Politics (IHAP)

Abstract

Women of Haiti sur la Place Publique:
Implementing Good and Responsive Governance,
Sound Elections Administration, and Cultural Mindfulness and Community Focus to Improve Voter Education, Participation and Access in Furthering Women’s Political Power and Public Voice

Democracy, elections, and public participation in Haiti have long been punctuated by the ongoing struggle for sovereignty and self-determination. From the country’s independence from France in 1804, and becoming the first country in the Americas to revolt and end the enslavement of her people, to conducting the first free and peaceful elections in 1990 of Aristide and the ousting of one president after another as they prove to be looking out for their own interests over their people’s well being, the people of Haiti have fought forces from both inside and outside the country in order to have a part in their own governance. This continues today with the PetroCaribe Challengers. Women in Haiti are an especially vulnerable population; while considered the poto mitan (center pole) of family and private life they have very little sway in la place publique (public square).
This research paper, while acknowledging the significant challenges all Haitians experience, focuses on efforts to further Haitian women’s political power and public voice and explores how to improve voter education, public participation, and access to elections for women, understanding that lifting up the voices of and increasing power for the most vulnerable can improve public participation outcomes for all Haitians.
The research takes place in two steps. First, there is a systematic literature review of factors needed to support Haitian women’s political power and public voice, which is then enriched and followed up with in-depth appreciative inquiry interviews with those involved in Haitian elections, Haitians, and the Haitian diaspora that the researcher could gain access to through her work with the Haiti Democracy Project. The researcher-created framework of the “Three-legged Stool Supporting Haitian Women” is introduced: identifying the three factors needed to lift up Haitian women’s political power and public voice as Good and Responsive Governance, Sound Elections Administration, and Cultural Mindfulness and Community Focus. A series of questions are asked to guide the research, working to understand if a strengths-based inquiry approach can help identify culturally appropriate and community minded opportunities to build women’s political power and public voice.
Despite access limitations because of the ongoing volatile social and political situation in Haiti, constraints placed on the research by the university’s capstone requirements, and the researcher’s own time constraints, there were both opportunities and challenges uncovered that could improve upon and build capacity for Haitian women in public decision-making processes from voting and running for office to being active in a community-based organization (CBO) and taking concrete steps to increase safety, create educational opportunities, and reduce violence against women.

Author

• Catherine McMullen, Multnomah County