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73 Bull. Pan Am. Union 315 (1939)
The Feminist Movement in Haiti

handle is hein.journals/bulpnamu73 and id is 377 raw text is: THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN HAITI It is interesting to note that the regular theater in Colombia, as a public spectacle, had its beginning at BogotA in the plays given by one of these family theater groups in the home of Don Lorenzo Maria Lleras. Although there are accounts of public per- formances in colonial days and in early years of the republic, these were entirely sporadic and occasional in character. This new phase of the theater in Colombia cannot be described here for lack of space but may be treated in another article. (Translated by Clarabel H. Wait, Division of Intel- lectual Cooperation, Pan American Union.) The Feminist Movement in Haiti MADELEINE G. SYLVAIN President, Women's League for Social Action, Haiti THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT is a recent de- velopment in Haiti, a country of Latin tradition, where the status of women is still governed by the Napoleonic Code. Haitian women enjoy no political rights; after they are married, they lose their nationality, their name, and the right to dispose freely of their persons and prop- erty. However, since custom corrects to a certain extent the strictness of the law, Haitian women play an important domes- tic and economic role and, content with ruling the rulers, were long satisfied with their lot. Nevertheless, about 1915 the new in- fluences of greater social consciousness, more education, and economic emancipa- tion began to be perceptible, like echoes of the rights demanded in this age. As Hai- tian women became better educated, they realized the new role that women were playing in the world, claimed their share of responsibility, and demonstrated greater understanding of their duties to the nation and to society. They demanded admit- tance to the university, interested them- selves in social work as well as sports, in- vaded business offices. In spite of all that, they did not yet consider fighting for their rights. In 1931, a bill introduced by Senator Hudicourt, granting votes to women, was received with indifference by both men and women. The feminist movement however, began to permeate every-day life, and was not slow in asserting itself. The Women's League for Social Action (La Ligue F6mi- nine d'Action Sociale), founded in Feb- ruary 1934, gave it expression by uniting Haitian women for the first time in a com- mon movement for improving their status. The founders of the League believed that feminism should be more than a movement for political emancipation-it should be a movement for the improve- ment of society. It was the latter kind of feminism they introduced. They wanted to bring together everyone interested in the subject, to help find solutions for problems of private charity, health, and the protection of women and children and, in order to reach that goal, raise the moral, physical, and intellectual level of women in all classes of society. This is the foremost aim of the association: the social and in- tellectual development of women. 315

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