Rosean Andre, right, sits with Venia Ellen in their tiny one-room apartment. This past summer, six people lived in this cramped space. Both women were raped shortly after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.
Rosean is pregnant with her third child. Her first husband was killed in October 2010 by gangsters roaming the camps. She was raped in March 2010 by five men near the Champs de Mars area. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.
Rosean eats dinner in the evening following her work at KOFAVIV in Port-au-Prince. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.
Rosean watched her neighbor prepare Venia Ellen's hair in the early evening. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.
A dress on the floor near Rosean. Most of the six people living in the one room sleep on the hard cement. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.
Rosenan Andre works at the Commission of Women's Victims for Victims (KOVAFIF) as a security agent but has barely been paid during the five past months. Image by Andre Lambertson. Haiti, 2012.

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Published August 27, 2012

Andre Lambertson, for the Pulitzer Center

Her name is Rosean Andre, 34-years-old, and she was raped on March 8, 2010. A friend named Carline took her to an organization called the Commission of Women Victims for Victims (KOFAVIV) after the rape and she has been a regular fixture there since that time. Her husband was killed on October 6, 2010, by gangsters in a shanty where he was living. She has two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son.

“I was living on the Champ de Mars and the toilets were not very close to the camps where I was living. You have to cross the streets to go there. I went to the toilet one day and five men raped me. It happened at 5:00 a.m in the morning,” she said.

“At KOFAVIV every morning I leave home between 5 and 5:20 a.m. where I work to 4:30 each day. I am a security agent. Right now it is not very fruitful for me to work at KOFAVIV. The work does not give me much money. I work there but I cannot eat well, and I cannot drink well. I cannot pay rent. I cannot send my kids to school.

“Right now they give me a few dollars and by the time I get that money, I already owe people money. So when you get paid, the money just goes to other people. In the end you have no money left. At KOFAVIV right now they are waiting for money, for others to provide money to pay us. I've gone many months without much money. Actually, I haven't really been paid for five months. I am pregnant right now.”

Project

Haiti: Women in the Shadows

Almost three years after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, women in Haiti’s crowded tent cities continue to face yet another threat: sexual violence.