Women In Haiti Have Limited Access To Maternal Health Care, May Trade Sex For Food, HRW Report Says
"Tens of thousands of women in Haiti have severely limited access to reproductive and maternal healthcare, many are compelled to trade sex for food and most are vulnerable to rape, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday," Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports (8/30). The report said "[d]espite a mammoth humanitarian-care push in the wake of the Jan. 12, 2010 quake that killed as many as 300,000 people, serious gaps exist in the health care that women and girls are receiving," the Los Angeles Times writes.
"The group noted that of $5.3 billion pledged by international donors after the quake, $258 million was dedicated to healthcare -- of which only $118.4 million has been disbursed," the newspaper states (Wilkinson, 8/30). The report says the government, donors and non-governmental organizations must coordinate efforts and share data to provide health services "to protec[t] women and girls from violence, and ensure that they receive all the information they need," Inter Press Service reports (Borda, 8/30).
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