In the wake of the two Haitian women allegedly killed by their husbands—within three days of each other—a mixture of indifference, astonishment and blame is running through Haitian neighborhoods.
"I was shocked when I heard that," said Lucille Grace, a beauty parlor owner in Cambria Heights. "When they said, ‘Haitian,’ I said, ‘Haitian?’ Where I come from, I never saw that. Like my mother taught me, before a man kills me, walk away."
Other Haitians said they grew up seeing, hearing or knowing about domestic abuse in their towns in Haiti. People turned a blind eye and left a couple to deal with "their own business."
But city and community organization officials here are asking residents to intervene in order to help save others from the same fate.
Acknowledging a gap between available help and potential victims, officials said outlets such as the media, clergy and community organizations need to spread the word about domestic abuse and violence.
On August 6, the city’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence organized a forum in Brooklyn that drew about 60 clergy members, media and representatives of community organizations. The panelists asked the attendees to inform Haitians about domestic abuse and violence.
“Go to the laundromats and hair salons, distribute flyers,” said Yolanda Jimenez, commissioner for the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence. “Intervention does work. Supporting and seeking assistance helps.”
At community forums, the sentiment is that churches, media and the community organizations are not doing enough to inform people about domestic abuse and violence.
Some say Haitian society condones violence against women because Haiti does not protect women’s rights.
Herold Dasque, executive director of Haitian-Americans United for Progress, said some Haitian men, regardless of social class, do not see women as partners, but as people to dominate.
When they come to the United States, where women are more economically independent, men often have difficulty accepting this change, become frustrated and take their anger out on loved ones, he said.
“We come from an authoritarian society where Haitian men carry their machismo,” Dasque said.
Despite government programs and conferences that offered help for sufferers of domestic abuse and violence, the community lacks knowledge about its definition and the places to go for help, experts said.
Counselors and emergency funds to help victims are available at police precincts, the district attorney’s office in Brooklyn, the mayor’s office and nonprofit groups.
Dasque said conferences have targeted community organizations, instead of residents. He said that shows the organizations need more money to pass on the information they gathered from those forums.
Many of the women interviewed in Flatbush and Cambria Heights, the two neighborhoods with the highest concentration of Haitians in the state, were not aware of groups that address domestic violence. They had not heard of Dwa Fanm, a Haitian women’s rights organization that assists abused women.
The city produced flyers and brochures in Creole, but the agencies have been slow to distribute material in Flatbush, Cambria Heights and Elmont, Long Island, where many Haitians live, because of lack of manpower, a community activist said.
Domestic violence falls under the federal Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention’s definition of intimate partner violence. It is defined as actual or threatened physical or sexual violence, or psychological and emotional abuse, directed toward a spouse, ex-spouse, current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, or current or former dating partner.
About 1.5 million women and 834,700 men are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year, the CDC said.
Last year, Brooklyn police precincts received 78,441 calls for domestic violence incidents, followed by Bronx with 55,726 reports.
The highest rate of Brooklyn incidents occurred in the 67th Precinct in Flatbush, where the majority of New York’s Haitians live.
The New York City Police Department does not keep track of perpetrators and victims by country or origin, but Farah Tanis, executive director at Dwa Fanm, and others said more than 50 percent of the domestic violence calls to the 67th Precinct came from Haitian families.
According to officers of the 67th Precinct, most domestic violence incidents are not reported to authorities.
Of the 78 domestic violence victims killed last year in New York City, 65 percent had no prior record of violence reported to the police, Jimenez said. As of last month, 31 people were killed in a domestic violence dispute.
Robert Boyce, a deputy inspector at 67th Precinct, said police had no record of abuse filed by the Alexis family in Brooklyn.
“There was no prior history.” Boyce said. “It’s a bit haunting for us [because] we never had the opportunity [to intervene].
Edward Alexis, 42, and wife, Marie Yanick Alexis, 39, were found dead inside their 248 E. 28th St. apartment on July 30.
The New York City Medical Examiner ruled the deaths a homicide-suicide in which Mr. Alexis killed his wife and then himself.
“He was not a man who beat women,” said Jean Mackenzie Daufine, 31, a friend of Edward Alexis. “He didn’t believe in men raising their hands on women at all. That day, I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe it.”
On Aug. 2, Nassau County Police Officers found Marie Adeline Alexis, 45, dead in her North Stream Valley home after receiving a call from her 59-year-old husband, Jean Elie Alexis.
Jean Elie Alexis is in intensive care at a Long Island hospital for treatment of burns and lacerations.
The police would not say whether domestic violence reports were filed with authorities.
The victim’s families could not be reached for comment.
As its name suggests, Dwa Fanm aims to protect Haitian women’s rights. The three year-old organization serves 250 women annually, the majority abused by their husbands and boyfriends.
The group provides free self-defense training to girls and women. The group provides emergency funds for those suffering from domestic trauma.
“It just sort of confirmed for me the need for more [community organizations] to be doing this,” said Tanis. “At this point we’re desperate.”
Yet, the recent fatalities have brought criticism on Dwa Fanm. As the group best equipped to respond to domestic violence, it should be more accessible to Haitian women, critics have said.
“The mass of people don’t know about Dwa Fanm,” said Rose Magaille Fortune, a trade union executive and candidate for the organization’s board of directors. “They’re doing a good job, but they need to be out there more.”
Tanis said Dwa Fanm is concerned about its staff members’ safety, since they are dealing with abusive men who hurt loved ones.
The nonprofit has two offices, one in Park Slope and another in Flatbush, Brooklyn, but its officers ask that their addresses not be disclosed. It receives cases through the police, word of mouth and other organizations.
Tanis said their clients sign a form vowing not to disclose the group’s locations, in case their husbands decide to take their anger out on Dwa Fanm.
We’re afraid [of] the man who’s threatening to beat his wife,” Tanis said. “As a case manager, don’t you think he’ll do the same to you?”
Tanis said Dwa Fanm plans to put posters at places where Haitian women are guaranteed to see them, including public transportation stops that service Flatbush and Canarsie.
Since the organization’s funding recently doubled to more than $65,000, Tanis said they would try to reach more residents.
“It’s hard not to take it personally,” Tanis said. “Everybody takes it personally. But what brings us back is how many lives we’ve saved.”
To get it done, there must be money, a Haitian pastor said during this month’s city-sponsored seminar on domestic violence.
“We have the information available, but that’s not enough,” said the Rev. Luc Pierre of the New Jerusalem Church in Brooklyn. “We need the resources to do intervention. The government failed us by not vesting us with enough resources.”
Pierre said money is necessary to help the victims relocate and hire people to distribute informational flyers guiding victims toward city agencies that could funnel rescue funds, provide emergency housing and deliver other assistance.
The city’s budget included more than $100 million for fiscal year 2002 – 2003 for city agencies to provide domestic violence services, said Monique Imbert, deputy commissioner at the Office of Domestic Violence.
The money goes toward housing, legal services, operating the hot line and court escorts.
For information on domestic violence and assistance, call the New York City Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 621-HOPE (4673) or visit www.nyc.gov/html/acdv/; or Dwa Fanm at (718) 230-4027 or visit www.dwafanm.org.
