GV's Cite Soliel 10:00:00:00

Voice over (VO) 10:00:00:00

Haiti’s biggest slum, Cite Soleil - described by the United Nations as the most dangerous place on earth.

The only safe way to film here is to be with a heavily-armed UN patrol. These Brazilian peacekeepers' mission – keeping this violent shanty town under control. The troops take no chances. These are volatile streets. And the battle to impose order is tough.

GV's Cite Soliel

Cite Soliel was originally built for tourists to see that there was something beautiful in Haiti. Now there are three hundred thousand people crammed into just five square kilometers.   People from the countryside. Poor people – looking for a better life. But most here live below the international poverty line of two dollars a day. Nothing works. Litter piles high and sewage stagnates in the streets.

But these dangerous neighborhoods are also where thousands of young women and girls have been raped. Of the handful who seek justice, more than half are under 18.

Jina SOT

10:01:07:09

"They raped me. All three of them. One after another. Yes, one after another.

Set Up Jina + V/O

10:01:15:00

Seventeen-year-old, Jina, was four months pregnant when a gang wearing masks, dragged her to an empty house in Cite Soleil and raped her.

ASTON:

10:01:22:07

Jina

Jina SOT

10:01:25:21

They make me suffer. They make me suffer. Then the baby in belly...

I feel like my baby is torn apart.

My baby is torn apart. Torn apart.

Now I don’t feel right. I feel “lost”. 

I didn't see their faces. No faces.

They wore masks over their faces."

GV’s Haitian Police + V/O

10:01:51:24

Jina didn't report the rape to the police. Most rapes in Haiti go unreported. Justice is expensive and the Haitian police have admitted that some of their force is corrupt and involved in kidnappings, murder and rape.

ASTON:

10:02:05:07

Nahomey

“Nahomey” SOT

10:02:05:07

"They held me to rape me in the street. They raped me in the street when I was on my way home.It was a policeman together with a civilian. Now I am in hiding because they say they will find a way to kill me because they are now in prison.”

GV’s Ministry of Women + V/O

10:02:26:17

The newly elected democratic government blames the rape epidemic in the slums on the political turmoil that has stained the country. Especially since the vicious dictator Francois Duvalier's (DOO-VAHL-YEY) built the shanty-town Cite Soleil.

ASTON:

10:02:41:14

MYRIAM MERLET, heads The Ministry of Women

MYRIAM MERLET, heads The Ministry of Women SOT

10:02:41:14

"I want to attribute the high rate of rape in the slums to the periods of political turmoil that we’ve had in Haiti over the years. Especially since 1986 (when the Duvalier's family dictatorship was ousted). Since then, in every era of political turmoil, rape has been used as a political weapon. After the coup, the soldiers in the army used rape to punish the population.  Then the Chimere's in Haiti used raped to control the population (in 2004). Women have been raped every time there’s been political turmoil. Now the street gangs in the slums use sexual violence as a powerful weapon of control (oppression)."

“Mary Jane” set-up (V/O)

10:03:36:10

Sixteen-year-old Mary-Jane is too scared to show her identity. She is risking her life to speak out about a gang in her slum who first raped her when she was 12 years old.

ASTON

10:03:48:05

“Mary Jane”

“Mary Jane” SOT

10:03:48:05

"The first time it was three of them. They were from the same gang. All three raped me. Afterwards I was taken to hospital. I had to be sewn. That’s how bad it was."

GV’s + V/O

10:04:06:02

Haiti's justice system is weak. Rape was only made a criminal offence in Haiti in 2005. Before then, a judge would just negotiate a sum of money to be paid to the victim's family. But despite the new law the prosecution rate for rape still remains low.

“Mary Jane” SOT

10:04:26:22

"I was raped again when I was fourteen.  I was on my way to buy water for my mum. On my way, a man from that same gang grabbed me. He said he was going to rape me.  As soon as he said that I ran away down a corridor. But he caught me and… he raped me.

I had been making t-shirts with a pair of scissors. After he raped me he still held me. He hit me.  I still had the scissors in my hand. So I pushed the scissors into his stomach. He fell on the floor. My parents tried to help him. But he died. His gang then tried to kill me. They burnt down our house. Me and my mum escaped. But I was arrested the next day. I spent two years in prison."

ASTON

10:05:11:23

HEDI ANNABI, Head of the UN mission in Haiti

HEDI ANNABI, Head of the UN mission in Haiti. SOT

10:05:10:23 (out of vision)

10:05:11:23 (in vision)

"So its important also to get those accused of serious crimes to get them before a court and to get them sentenced so the message starts spreading that impunity is not, not longer, assured."

GV’s of Martissant  Market and rape centre + V/O

10:05:28:12

Martissant is another notoriously violent slum in Port-au-Prince where gang warfare is common. People risk their lives just being on the streets. Yet here on its outskirts, is the city’s ONLY drop-in rape crisis centre. Ginnette is one of SEVEN unpaid volunteers who help with the scores of rape cases that come here every month.

ASTON

10:05:48:01

GINNETTE, Rape Counsellor, SOFA

GINNETTE, Rape Counsellor, SOFA. SOT

10:05:48:01

"When a gang rapes a child… that child can just be on their way to buy something. And it can be at anytime. Gangs never attack at a particular time. They wait and attack at anytime. They attack anytime in the day and night. When they attack a child they put a gun to her head…then they take her to some corner and rape her.

GV’s Cite Soleil at night

10:06:12:13

V/O

Cite Soleil at night. The only way in - is to go on foot. These are areas never entered by the Haitian police. It's a lawless zone. A gangster's paradise.

This is the worst time for women and girls.

There's no electricity - no lights. Even less chance of somewhere to run.

But there are always gangs of men on the street corners.

“Mary Jane” SOT

10:06:53:06

"I should not have been sent to jail

because I was a victim several times.

The gang burnt down my house. They beat me and, they raped me.”

10:07:03:22

“I don’t feel like I am living now because…

if someone is not free they  will never feel good. When I go out I have to keep watching all the time.

I also want to live with my mum.

But I am not allowed to because…

the gang could find me and hurt me.”

10:07:24:02

FADE DISSOLVE ENDS

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