This document discusses domestic violence in Haiti. It reports that 14.59% of Haitian women experience physical violence and 9.87% experience severe physical or sexual violence from intimate partners. Domestic violence results in health costs from injury, disease, and lost productivity. Three interventions are proposed: rebuilding a women's shelter, establishing a national helpline, and implementing a teenage dating violence prevention program in schools. The shelter and helpline interventions have benefit-cost ratios above 2.1 and 3.3 respectively. The teenage program has a lower estimated benefit-cost ratio of 0.1 to 3.3 due to its high delivery costs and limited school attendance rates.

1. Domestic Violence in Haiti
Anke Hoeffler, Jean Guy Honoré, and Anastasia Gage
Research paper prepared for the Copenhagen Consensus Center project ‘Haïti Priorise’

2. Domestic Violence in Haiti
Background
Domestic Violence in Haiti
Intervention 1: Shelter
Intervention 2: National Helpline
Intervention 3: Teen Dating Violence Prevention
Conclusion

3. What is Violence Against Women?
1994 UN ‘Declaration’
Violence against women: "any act of gender-based violence that
results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm
or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion
or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or
in private life."
Most violence is perpetrated by the
woman’s intimate partner
(husband, boyfriend)

4. Domestic Violence in the Global Context
Collective Violence
2%
Homicide
13%
Non fatal Child Abuse
38%
DV 47%
Total Annual Cost: 9.5 trillion USD (~ 11% World GDP), IEP and Fearon& Hoeffler 2014

5. Examples and Reporting
Examples of physical and sexual violence:
 slapped, pushed, shoved
 punched, kicked, beaten
 choked, burnt on purpose
 threatened with a weapon
 physically forced to have sexual intercourse
 having sexual intercourse because of fear what a partner might do
 being forced to do something sexual that is perceived as humiliating or
degrading
 Most women never report this abuse, victimization surveys (in
conjunction with DHS)

6. Consequences
Health Costs (intangible):
 Death – homicide, suicide
 Injury
 Major depressive disorder
 Persistent mild depression
(dysthymia)
 STDs (including HIV/Aids)
 Unwanted pregnancies
(abortion, miscarriage)
 Substance abuse
 Violence against children
 Intergenerational cycle
Other Costs (tangible):
 Medical treatment
 Care costs
 Lost income
 Criminal justice costs

7. Domestic Violence in Haiti
Any physical violence
or sexual violence
Severe physical
violence or sexual
violence
15-19 year olds 32.81% 22.54%
20-24 year olds 21.34% 13.79%
25-29 year olds 16.64% 10.35%
30-34 year olds 11.86% 8.47%
35-39 year olds 11.84% 7.84%
40-44 year olds 9.72% 7.24%
45-49 year olds 7.83% 6.25%
Total 14.59% 9.87%
Reporting past year, source: DHS 2012

8. Legislation and Support for Victims
 Ratified UN convention and Inter-American convention
 2005 rape was made a criminal offence, further legislation
regarding the prevention of violence against women drafted
for presentation to parliament
 Gap between legal rights and actual experiences
 Government and NGO support for victims (medical&legal),
advocacy campaigns – a number of potential local partners
for interventions
 Specific problems of high teenage pregnancy rates and the
Restavèk are not considered here

9. Intervention 1: Shelter
One of the four women’s shelters destroyed in the earthquake – rebuild
Unclear how effective shelters are, limited social science research
Benefits: Shelter would serve 0.4 % of all victims of IPV
The shelter is beneficial for 69% of users
Shelter would save one death and 12 YLDs
Costs: Build shelter in 2018, use until 2046,
building cost HTG 10million &maintanance&running costs
4 full time staff (average or 0.5 earnings HGT 4,830 per month)
BCR > 2.1

10. Intervention 2: National Helpline
Set up a National Helpline for the prevention and treatment of IPV victims
No social science research evidence on effectiveness but usage appears to
increase after campaigns
Helpline to be set up in 2017 and run until 2028
Benefit: avoid 1% of deaths and YLDs
Cost: 4 full time staff (average or 0.5 earnings HGT 4,830 per month)
Training costs, campaign costs USD 0.0425 per woman aged 15-49
Office rent&running costs
BCR > 3.3

11. Intervention 3: Teenage Dating Violence
Prevention
Teaching safe and healthy relationships reduces IPV (long lasting impact)
Strong evidence from HICs, pilot study in Haiti by Gage&Honoré
SAFE Dates curriculum taught in 2018 to 14 yr olds
8% population coverage, not all 14yr olds are in school, opt-in programme (31% uptake)
treatment of 18,800 students
Benefit:
four year effect of 56% reduction in deaths and YLDs, then decays geometrically until 2050
Cost:
HGT 17.9million, training of 157 teachers, each teaches 4 groups, training 3 days, delivery 5
days, printing materials, support from US experts
0.1< BCR < 3.3

12. Concluding Comments
 DV is a serious problem in Haiti, estimation: 273,200 women suffer severe
IPV, 10 % of all 14-49 year old women
 Considerable health costs (death, injury, self-harm, depression, pregnancy)
 Intergenerational perpetuation of violence& violence against children may
be considerable but have not been considered here
 Only male on female violence, but there may also be female on male
violence, in particular amongst adolescents – under researched area
 Violence against women is a human rights, public health and development
challenge
 Not sufficient to change legislation but attitudes have to change:
recognise IPV as a problem that is large in scale with considerable (health)
costs but treatment and prevention options exist
 BCR for teenage dating violence intervention low due to high cost of
delivery and low population coverage