April 3rd, 2025, marks the 39th National Day of the Haitian Women's Movement, a reminder that in 1986, on the same date, more than 30,000 women took to the streets across the country to demand their participation in political life. These women carried a powerful message: "Women must have their place in all decisions concerning the life of the Nation."

Since then, April 3rd has become the National Day of the Haitian Women's Movement, a symbol of women's resistance and determination.

This year, this National Day was celebrated under the theme : "Women of Haiti, today, let us make history again !"

It should be remembered that the first feminist movement in Haiti emerged in 1934 with the creation of the Women's League for Social Action. However, it was only in 1986 that Haitian women's struggle for the recognition of their rights gained new momentum, under the leadership of Solidarity Fanm Ayisyèn (SOFA), one of the country's largest feminist organizations.

Furthermore, reports published by the World Bank in 2012, 2016, and 2017, by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) in 2017, by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2021, and by MOUKA in 2023 show that the situation of Haitian women and girls remains worrying.

Haitian women and girls are increasingly victims of physical, sexual, gender-based, and psychological violence, which is exacerbated during conflicts and periods of crisis, as well as persistent gender prejudice and inequality, especially those living in camps due to insecurity.

PI/ iciHaiti