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Digital Democracy

Empowering Civic Engagement Through Digital Technologies | 109 W 27th St, 6 fl | New York, NY 10001 USA
+1-347-688-DDEM | info@digital-democracy.org | @digidem | www.digital-democracy.org

FOR EXCLUSIVE RELEASE


Contact: Elizabeth Ghormley
eghormley@digital-democracy.org
347.866.4677

Unique Voice from the Frontline in Post Earthquake Haiti:


Grassroots Woman Leader to Share Unheard Perspectives on Gender Violence
Epidemic

September 12, 2010: New York, NY — Eramithe Delva, a courageous advocate and founder of
one of the leading Haitian grassroots women’s networks, traveled from Haiti today for the first
time to speak at a full day program on Haitian Women and Girls to be held Monday, September
13th at New York’s Cosmopolitan Club, cosponsored by the Women Donors Network and the
United Nations Foundation. During the week, she is scheduled to speak at U.S. Congress, the
State Department, Universities and Law Schools, and with NGO partners, offering unique
perspective on the silent, yet staggering plight of women in post-disaster Haiti.

“The empowerment of grassroots Haitian women is essential to rebuilding efforts in Haiti,” said
Abby Goldberg, Director for Latin America, Caribbean, and Gender at Digital Democracy (Dd).
“Eramithe’s historic trip is an example of how the tragedy of the earthquake has created an
opportunity to shift the power structures that have kept women from full political participation and
reinforced the structural inequalities that have led to extreme levels of poverty and violence that
disproportionately affects women and girls.”

Since the January earthquake, rape and gender-based violence (GBV) has grown exponentially,
just as Haitian women’s voices have continued to be excluded from international discussions of
the rebuilding efforts and the allocation of more than $6 billion dollars in aid. Delva’s organization,
KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victims for Victims), is committed to reversing this trend.
KOFAVIV has documented the severe escalation of GBV in Port-Au-Prince over the last 8 months
in order both to combat and raise international awareness of this human rights tragedy. (For more
information and documentation, see “Our Bodies are Still Trembling: Women’s Fight Against
Rape in Haiti (July 2010) Institute for Justice in Haiti. Available at: http://ijdh.org/archives/13361)

Goldberg and Emily Jacobi, Co-Founder of Dd, met Delva when they traveled to Haiti in April to
conduct on-the-ground photo and technology trainings with women’s groups. Since then, Dd has
been using technology to empower and protect Haitian women. Dd is working to leverage the
same technology that helped individuals use mobile phones to locate rescuers to provide rapid
response for rape victims and gather data necessary to lobby for changes in the camps where
women and girls are most vulnerable to attacks.

“Contrary to a recent UN report that claims security has been provided in problem areas, people
living in many camps are forced to provide their own security through banding together, forming
informal security patrols or “brigades” and providing whistles as a deterrent for rape,” said Delva.
“Camps that have electricity for lighting at night and informal security patrols do not have
problems of violence against women and rapes, and we hope that more camps can receive this
support now. The role of technology in this process is paramount.”
Digital Democracy
Empowering Civic Engagement Through Digital Technologies | 109 W 27th St, 6 fl | New York, NY 10001 USA
+1-347-688-DDEM | info@digital-democracy.org | @digidem | www.digital-democracy.org
Scheduled events with Eramithe as follows, subject to change:
* Not open to the public.

Monday September 13 (New York)


9am-3pm: Haitian Women and Girls: Creating Safe Spaces, Confronting National Recovery, and
Building a New Future of Equality – Co-sponsored by the Women Donors Network and United
Nations Foundation*
Location: Cosmopolitan Club

6pm-8pm: Panel Discussion on gender-based violence in Haiti


Location: New York University Law School

Tuesday September 14 (New York)


1-2pm: CUNY school-wide event
Location: CUNY Law School

Wednesday September 15 (Washington DC)


9-10am: Roundtable with Digital Democracy and KOFAVIV Founder Eramithe Delva*
Location: State Department Conference Room

10-11am Haiti Advocacy Working Group meeting


Location: TBC

2-4pm: Black Women’s Roundtable: Congressional Black Caucus Annual Conference


Location: TBC – Capitol Hill, Washington

Thursday September 16 (Washington DC)


9am-2pm: Congressional Black Caucus Annual Conference Meetings
Location: TBC – Capitol Hill, Washington

3-5pm: Meeting American University - leaders of Alternative Spring Break Program, Women's
Program, Caribbean Circle, Latin American Studies
Location: American University, Washington DC

Monday September 20 (Charlottesville, VA)


11:30am-1:30pm: University of Virginia Law School Presentation
Location: UVA, Charlottesville

Tuesday September 21 (New York, NY)


Availabile for press interviews
###

Digital Democracy (www.digital-democracy.org; Twitter: @DigiDem) uses digital technologies


to empower disenfranchised and marginalized groups with training and technological support.
Founded in 2008, the U.S.-based non-profit emphasizes the importance of digital literacy, working
with grassroots organizers and local programmers on community-driven solutions. Digital
Democracy has international reach, having conducted projects and trainings in countries including
Bangladesh, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kenya, Thailand, South Africa and the United States.
Handheld Human Rights is an award-wining platform developed by Digital Democracy and
supported by the University of Berkeley Human Rights Center and NetSquared and the French-
American Charitable Trust.

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