Please note, this is a transcript hence the references to sound effects and sound bytes
Sex crimes have increased amidst the harsh living conditions in the camps following Haiti's earthquake, the UN Children's Fund reports. To teach Haitian women and girls about their rights on gender-based violence - a term that encompasses domestic violence, forced prostitution, sexual assault and rape, UNICEF is working together with American Refugee Committee (ARC). UN Radio's Jocelyne Sambira reports:
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Terrain Acra is a camp for some of the 1.3 million people left homeless by Haiti's earthquake. It is typical of scores of other camps in the area.
Access to water and food is a constant concern for those who live in the camp. Women and young girls walk around with buckets of water and bags of food on their heads.
Life in the camps is difficult, but for women and girls, it can be a nightmare, because of the threat of sexual assault and rape.
Terlena Day-Isaac works with UNICEF's partner, the American Refugee Committee. She knows first hand how frightening it is to be in the camps because she lives in one.
Her house is made of scraps of tin and metal. She has no proper door, only a rope tied to an iron sheet gives her a semblance of security.
"You can see what I did to get inside. There's no lock, there's nothing - anyone can get inside. It's simply not safe for me."
Sexual assault and rape are long-standing problems in Haiti. Rape was not considered illegal until 2005. Domestic violence is also endemic.
The UN Children's organization, UNICEF, is working with authorities to improve security -through practical measures like putting better lighting in the camps and increasing patrols of United Nations peacekeepers.
UNICEF gender-based violence expert Sunita Palekar says that with the earthquake, came feelings of powerlessness for many Haitians - especially men. And in a misdirected effort to feel "in charge" of their lives, some men take their frustrations out on females.
"It's difficult for everyone - men, boys, women and girls. Men and boys face a situation where they are dis-empowered, they don't have access to livelihoods, aren't able to provide for their families. But this also increases the opportunity for violence to take place, because of this kind of stress - and women and girls are particularly vulnerable to that."
Education is also important in fighting the scourge. Mavina Estenovil is in a makeshift classroom, instructing women on what actions constitute violence against women - and why it's wrong.
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Can you tell me what physical violence is? She asks pointing to one of the girls seated on a bench. I need some details on physical violence, she insists.
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The student's answer is vague - that violence is when bad things happen. And that's not good enough for Estenovil.
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So she explains: Physical violence is when they beat you up, or crush you down, hurt you - all these are physical violence.
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These girls are there to learn about their rights in order to better protect themselves, meanwhile UNICEF is also educating the men and boys to change their misperception that masculinity must be linked to violence against women.
Jocelyne Sambira, United Nations.
