On 15 October this year, Béatrice Cajoux’s image was everywhere on Haitian social media. The photos being circulated by online outlets and feminist organisations showed a smiling, round-faced young woman with sparkling eyes and sleekly braided hair. The previous night, she had been murdered in a displacement camp in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Béatrice was just 31 years old.
Today, I want to share her story to highlight the violence faced by Haitian women and the impunity that exists and enables it to continue.
There are currently more than 700,000 displaced people in Haiti, and 25% of them live in makeshift displacement sites in Port-au-Prince like the one where Béatrice was killed. These are often schools, churches, or government buildings that are overcrowded and where there is limited-to-no access to basic services, adequate food, or health care. The camps are also often located in gang controlled areas, making aid access particularly challenging.
L’organisation Féministe Marijàn a appris avec consternation et regret la mort de Mme Béatrice Cajoux, l’une de nos collaboratrices. Nous déplorons vigoureusement les circonstances malencontreuses dans lesquelles Mme Cajoux a été tuée dans la nuit du 14 octobre 2024 lors d’une… pic.twitter.com/cjYLtDeR6C
— MARIJÀN | Feminist Organization (@Marijan_Ayiti) October 15, 2024
Haitian feminist and human rights organisations, such as Nègès Mawon, which I co-founded, are constantly sounding the alarm about the violence perpetrated against women and girls in a country that more often than not ignores their rights, their needs, and their potential. That violence is blatant in internally displaced people’s camps. According to a July 2024 UN report, women and girls in the camps are at particular risk of sexual and gender-based violence, and rape is “used in most camps as a deliberate tactic to control their access to humanitarian assistance”.
About 90% of the women living in camps have no source of income, and many are forced to engage in transactional sex to obtain food, water, a place to sleep, or simply to use the toilet. Lawlessness reigns and violence of all sorts continues to be perpetuated. Béatrice is just one of countless victims.
Life of the displaced
Before she was killed, Béatrice had been living for over a year in a camp for internally displaced people set up at a high school – Lycée Marie Jeanne – in the Bois Verna neighbourhood of the capital. She had settled there after an attack by armed gangs in August 2023 forced her to flee Carrefour-Feuilles, an area of the capital that is among the most affected by violence.
After going through a divorce, Béatrice was raising her two children – both boys, aged six and 12 – on her own and living with her mother, Lucienne, whose last name is being withheld to protect her safety. Following the attack, a friend of Béatrice’s mother offered to host her in Pèlerin, a neighborhood that is considered to be a bit safer. Lucienne took the children with her so they could attend classes at the beginning of the school year, and Béatrice stayed behind on her own in the camp for displaced people.
Béatrice was dynamic and resourceful, but struggled to find consistent work to support her family. What work she was able to find barely provided enough for her to be able to feed herself. Béatrice’s brother, who works as a police officer in another part of Haiti, sent money to help Béatrice and her mother survive.
Adding to her struggles, tensions arose between Béatrice and other people in the camp. Despite her difficult economic circumstances, Béatrice paid attention to how she looked and liked to pamper herself. In a sexist country like Haiti, this drew the contempt of many of the displaced who felt she did not act how someone living in a camp should. They accused her of taking a space and donations that could go to someone else who was in more dire need.
Then the worst happened. On 15 October, Lucienne received a phone call. The person on the other end told her that Béatrice had been killed.
Murky details
At the time of the murder, Lucienne was out of Port-au-Prince visiting her son and had sent Béatrice’s children back to stay with her in the camp. Returning to the capital was time consuming and expensive. When she arrived, she learned that Béatrice had been shot twice – once in the chest and once in the foot.
Many of the details surrounding Béatrice’s murder are still murky. The first media reports said that an altercation had taken place between police officers and displaced people while hygiene kits were being distributed at night. A crowd that gathered to collect the hygiene kits accused policemen of stealing some of the products, the situation turned chaotic, and shots were fired.
Lucienne, however, insists that Béatrice was not in the part of the camp where the distribution was taking place when she was killed. Instead, she believes that Béatrice was “coldly murdered” by a former police officer. Either way, Lucienne did not file a complaint because she did not believe it would make a difference. “I know who killed my daughter, but there is no justice in Haiti. I leave her fate in God’s hands,” Lucienne said.
Béatrice’s children witnessed the murder and now live with the trauma of seeing their mother killed. Even months later, they have not spoken about that night.
After the killing, one of Béatrice’s aunts initially took care of them, but they are now back in Pèlerin with Lucienne. Lucienne worries about how she will take care of them at her advanced age and without a job. She received a bit of support from the Haitian feminist organisation Nègès Mawon, where I work, but said she hasn’t received any support from international organisations she has approached.
“[With their mother gone], the children will suffer even more,” Lucienne said. “They haven't been able to go back to classes since school started this year, and I won't be able to afford sending them after what happened to my daughter.”
No justice
Before she was killed Béatrice tried to do what was in her power to change her circumstances. She went to the offices of Marijàn, a feminist organisation that offers support to survivors of violence, displaced women, and those living in precarious situations. Béatrice became a valued member of the community, attending trainings, participating in workshops, and taking part in activities.
Despite the fact that a police officer was allegedly involved, there’s been no investigation by authorities.
“She was always there to motivate others and had so much energy. She was very committed and eager to learn,” said Nathalie Vilgrain, general coordinator of Marijàn.
On social media, the attention paid to Béatrice’s killing quickly dissipated: What does the death of one more woman matter in a country where killing and destruction have become commonplace?
A justice of the peace went to the camp where Béatrice was killed to inspect the scene. But despite the fact that a police officer was allegedly involved, there’s been no investigation by authorities.
To the extent there has been any closure, Marijàn held a ceremony to pay tribute to Béatrice. But many of the people who cared about her fear that there will never be justice for her killing – that the man who took her life will never be arrested and that Haiti’s broken and corrupt institutions will once again allow impunity for the perpetrator.
“What we feel is sadness and anger,” said Vilgrain. “We will continue to demand justice for Béatrice and continue our work because that is the best way to honor her.”
