Haiti workers hand out 'women-only' aid coupons

[cory777]

Source: AP

By FRANK BAJAK and PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Relief workers began handing out women-only food coupons, launching a new phase of what they hope will be less cutthroat aid distribution to ensure that families and the weak get supplies following Haiti's devastating earthquake.

Young men often force their way to the front of aid delivery lines or steal from it from others, meaning aid doesn't reach the neediest at rough-and-tumble distribution centers, according to aid groups.

The World Food Program coupons can be turned in by women at 16 sites in the capital starting Sunday, and entitle each family to 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of rice.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100131/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_earthquake

[tomm2thumbs]

1. I just hope the men don't start intimidating them to cashing in coupons and taking the goods

it is sad the lengths they have to go through to try to level the fair playing field in a crisis - almost have to make them eat in front of someone to make sure it isn't swiped later.

[butterfly77]

5. So do you think that the men would..

really take their Sanitary products?

[giabelsi]

7. The men would what?

Sanitary products? While I didn't notice sanitary products mentioned. The thieves will take anything they think they can sell :-(

[butterfly77]

9. Lol...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Berry Cool]

18. Yeah...who doesn't picture the next step being the young men beating the women

or threatening them with rape (or maybe doing it) to steal the goods they get?

There is no easy solution to this.

[SharonAnn]

29. As I pointed out to my husband in the Somalia crisis, the young men with guns appear well-fed.

It's everyone else who is starving.

In Haiti I guess they don't even need to have guns. Just the strength and desire to push others aside or steal from them.

The understanding for some cultures is that if you feed, educate, or invest in women, then their families benefit. If you invest in men in some cultures, they move to town to get a "better job", they get drunk, etc. but their families don't benefit.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Makes sense to me.

:thumbsup:

[ProgressOnTheMove]

3. I'm with Hartmann on this one, if always make women the priority every other issue will ...

work out at the same time. It's just when it came to Pres. Obama there was one equality bridge to cross first. Now let's do it for the ladies.

[Nay]

4. Yep. Like the saying they have in India -- "Give a penny to a man,

you give a penny to the man. Give a penny to a woman, you give a penny to the family."

[Bluenorthwest]

13. I'll remember that, next time I hear a story of a hungry family

with a 'mom' who is addicted, or a gambler, or a constant shopper. Such generalizations are just chilling to me. Give money to some women, or some men, it will go in their arms, or to their new shoes, before it goes to the kids. To claim such things are gender exclusive is bigoted and delusional, and also very dangerous for children.
But it is fun, isn't it, to bask in atavistic modes of thought? Yours is basically 'women are saints and men are racks' a Victorian sort of set up.
I do not agree with you that one can judge the worth of a person by gender, or by race, or by the gender or race of their partner or spouse.

[Honeycombe8]

14. It's not just generalization. There are stats to back that up.

Women who have given birth are more likely than men to protect and nurture and care for and sacrifice for the children. Not always. Just "more likely" to.

Fact: Haiti was distributing water to everyone, when young men came running up with clubs and weapons, beating the women and children and other men, and going up to the care booth and taking all the water for themselves. I saw it on TV. The military has been called in to distribute water and food to women and children because of it. No men are allowed in the line.

Face it. Men are more prone to violence. That's not just a generalization. Those are the stats. Check out the prisons.

[Threedifferentones]

19. WTF honeycomb

Stats are generalizations. Generalizations that are backed by math and science. Nonetheless, you cannot apply a rule of thumb, ie a stat, to an individual case. Upthread, you basically asserted that any given man cares much more about his kids and any given woman the opposite. Well, even without any stats I know for a fact that many families are the reverse, since I grew up in one.

To make my point a little clearer: Those same jail stats you are quoting also "prove" that black men are more likely to attack or steal than a white man. So, by y our logic, the next time a huge disaster strikes America, it would be cool for me to assert that we must help whites first, since black people will get by through thievery?

Face it. Generalizations are lame. So lame that we recognize many of them for the aweful "isms" that they are. Saying a given white man deserves aid sooner than a black man because of skin tone is RACISM. Saying a given woman deserves care before a given man solely on the basis of sex is SEXISM. Your posts ARE SEXIST.

[KittyWampus]

20. those same statistics are also behind things like using penicillin and vaccines.

[Threedifferentones]

28. Huh?

What do statistics about violence have to do with medicine?

[SharonAnn]

30. No, they prove that black are more likely to be convicted and sentenced to prison.

Big distinction.

[hughee99]

25. "men are more prone to violence" is a stat?

There's like a study that has evidence to suggest this, maybe strong evidence, but this isn't a "stat".

Are you sure that looking at prison populations (those who were actually caught, prosecuted, and convicted), will tell you which type of people are more likely to commit crimes? Are you sure this is a door you want to open?

[XemaSab]

32. How many women are convicted of murder every year?

Versus how many men?

Racism and bigotry in the justice system notwithstanding, men are more likely to be killers.

[hughee99]

34. African Americans are far more likely to be convicted of murder

than whites, if the people of Haiti were white, would this policy have been implemented?

Look, I really don't want to get into a discussion on racism vs. sexism, I think I got my fill of that in the 2008 primaries where have the Democrats were being called sexists and the other have were called racists all by other Democrats.

My point is this: We've had a number of disasters around the world, in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and in Central America. All these countries have similar populations of men and women. This is the first time I've ever heard of this policy being implemented.

[WriteDown]

35. I agree women who have given birth are more protective than men who have given birth. nt

[Matariki]

37. "No men are allowed in the line"

I'm wondering how they'll prevent the same men from beating the women and children *after* they've stood in line and received food and water?

I love Haiti, but they don't have the best record on women's rights.

[Sans Culottes]

27. That's a very sexist remark.

Ugly and insulting.

[giabelsi]

6. They need escorts back

Even in the best of times in Haiti my husband's missionary group had to hand deliver goods. Otherwise the supplies never got to the intended recipients.
Times are desperate in Haiti. I am afraid that those women who are not escorted back to their destinations are likely to robbed.
16 stations is a good number of locations though. That will help quite a bit

[Lars77]

8. Strange..

Considering how many men have lost their wives etc, this means that some men could actually starve to death because they have no women to get their food?

[jwirr]

21. They would be welcome in their own homes to eat/drink with their

families. Or at least I am assuming they would.

[Lars77]

26. What homes? nt

[jwirr]

31. I have been homeless so I realize that even a tent shelter can be

a home if your family is there. Even when it is distant relatives - which is who finally helped me out. I just read about a tent village called Daihatsu which is just outside the capitol city. The young men in that village are an active part of this camp and I am sure that they are taking care of their families and neighbors as best they can. The article mentioned youth roaming the streets and I am suggesting that these young men can become the guardians of their village regardless if it is tents or "homes".

[crazyjoe]

10. "Young men often force their way to the front of aid delivery lines or steal from it from others"

Friggin animals, how could you even look at yourself in a mirror after stealing food from the weak and helpless? I didn't know they had republicans in Haiti.
They should have cages and chains for these f**kers!!
(i'm pissed, can ya tell?)

[elehhhhna]

12. happens in every emergency.

lots of men survived the sinking of the Titanic.

[jwirr]

22. Not just in emergencies. I used to mail money to a missionary in

Mexico to be given to a women's coop. The missionary asked me to put it in their church account because the mail was often stolen. It is not easy to find ways to help in many nations.

[totodeinhere]

11. I think this is a good idea. However, I don't go along with those who condemn those young men.

Desperate people do desperate things. Abject hunger and thirst can do that to you. I think that most of us here can't even begin to imagine what some of the people who have done those things have gone through. Of course, I am not in any way condoning their behavior, but I think that at some point we revert to our primeval nature and resort to whatever tactics are necessary for survival. So unless I can walk a mile in their shoes I am not going to condemn them.

[Honeycombe8]

15. When you say "we," you DO know that the ONLY ones who "reverted" were young men?

They were ALL desperate. But it was ONLY the young men who came running up with clubs and beat the women and children and other men in the line, so that they could get the water for themselves.

No, we are not "all" prone to violence equally, when we "revert" in a desperate situation. Haiti is reacting to the facts on teh ground. It has not been women or children or older men who have been the problem. That is not "condemning." That's recognizing the facts on teh ground and taking steps to protect the more vulnerable.

[totodeinhere]

16. The reason that only the young men are doing it is obvious.

They are the only ones who are strong enough. But if older people and women were strong enough I suspect that some of them would try it too.

Look, and I already said in no way do I condone that kind of behavior. And I already said that I agree with the measures that are being taken to try to ensure that the weak and vulnerable get their fair share. But having said that, I am not going to condemn those who are doing what they have to do to survive in a desperate situation.

[Andronex]

23. Treat people with respect and you get it in return.

"The young men who came running up with clubs and beat the women and children and other men in the line, so that they could get the water for themselves."

That was the national police, didn't you notice the uniforms ?

But seriously what you see on the TV is designed to influence your opinion, when aid is given in an orderly fashion people will wait patiently, the violence you are shown is to justify the repressive agenda.

[unabelladonna]

17. i like that idea

for the obvious above reasons.

[hayu_lol]

24. This has very little to do with this thread...

but after reading all the whiners and criers over the military being there...this is the reason.

Catastrophe brings out the worst in most humans.

In many cases like this one, intact families are not the norm. This leaves the distribution points vulnerable to raids like these.

[EFerrari]

36. The posters or "whiners and criers" as you so civilly called us,

were objecting to the prioritization of military flights over humanitarian flights in the first crucial hours.

And that being said, it doesn't look like the problem has been solved by having all those troops there, does it?

[Quantess]

33. I wonder if anyone will dress in drag for the occasion?