Sexual Exploitation

The U.S State Department has released the 2017 Human Rights Reports.  While not without controversy this year, these reports are valuable for tracking to the extent to which partner countries protect human rights - including for women, children, and minorities.  As in previous years, Haiti's weak justice remains a major challenges.  Conditions in prisons remain poor and journalism remains a dangerous business.  However, they have been some modest successes including the Haitian National Police becoming increasingly professional.  The full report follows. 

Below is an article by Gerardo Reyes and Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald concerning human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors in the Dominican Republic, both of which have increased since the January earthquake.  Human trafficking occurs on both sides of the border.  It will take a sustained, joint effort to ensure that migration is humane, orderly, and that minors are not being exploited as they are now.  As the article makes clear, this will require tackling corruption within the border authorities.  For more information, take a look at the U.S. State Department's latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) reports for the Dominican Republic and Haiti. 

MINUSTAH got off to a bad start.  Initially, the force was content to sit back and guard government buildings while Port au Prince became increasingly unstable.  The rationale was that they were there to keep the peace, not to be the national police.