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The march took place on Friday,
Feb. 5th, led by a banner reading January
12 Movement to Liberate Haitian
Women. Beginning at Pont Rouge, the
crowd of over 500 women marched 20
abreast, with a number of men providing
a protective security perimeter
around the women. The demonstrators
came first to the airport, stopping all
traffic along the way. They then proceeded
to the Central Directorate of the
Judicial Police (DCPJ), which has also
been President René Préval’s residence
and office since the disaster.
The demonstrators briefl y blocked
the DCPJ’s entrance as they marched by.
Haitian police began hitting the men
guarding the demonstration’s perimeter
with clubs. Despite this provocational
brutality, the protestors remained
commendably peaceful throughout the
march. People joined the procession as
it passed. The protestors joined hands,
singing traditional Haitian songs and
chanting the slogan “Tents, not guns!”
in Kreyòl. The march paused again in
front of the MINUSTAH Base, and then
finally continued on to the U.S. Embassy
in Tabarre. The entire march from
Pont Rouge to Tabarre is about 7 miles.
In a radio address, President
Préval claimed to have heard about the
march and commented that it should
not happen again.
 On the evening of Feb. 7, it rained
for the fi rst time since the earthquake,
auguring the rainy season which starts
in March. The vast majority of residents
in Haiti’s “sheet cities” still have
no tents to shelter them.
On Feb. 9, the January 12 Movement
to Liberate Haitian Women, again
with the Millenials Project’s support,
staged a sit–in on the Champs de Mars
outside the Plaza Hotel, where CNN had
been staying. About 50 demonstrators
held signs reading “Tents Now, Politics
Later” and “End U.N. Racism.”
The two groups have initiated
plans for another demonstration in
Port-au-Prince to be held on Mar. 8,
International Women’s Day. Women’s
organizations from around Haiti have
been invited to help organize the event,
which organizers hope will bring out
thousands of women from around Haiti
and its capital.
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