Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
The most common marital relationship is based in plasaj, a
form of customary marriage. Such relationships are considered
normal and proper in peasant families and the urban lower
class. Spouses generally have an explicit economic agreement
at the beginning of either legal or customary marriage. In rural
Haiti, this understanding is negotiated, oftentimes between the
families of the two parties to a marital union, and usually
requires the husband to provide a house and cultivate at least
one plot of land for his new wife.
For the most part, lower-class men and women undertake
legal marriage primarily for social prestige. Given the significant
expense of weddings, many couples in plasaj unions delay
legal marriage for many years. In the 1960s, this pattern began
to change among Protestant families who belonged to
churches that strongly promote legal marriage and provided
affordable weddings. It is not unusual for men to have extramarital
relationships. Some enter into polygamous marriages
by custom, although most men cannot afford the expense.
Men and women both value children and contribute to childcare,
but women bear most of the burden.
Women's rights are not the equal of men's in a court of law.
Women do not inherit from their partners' plasaj. In addition,
legal sanctions for adultery are far greater for women than for
men. Women are also subject to physical abuse. According to
one study, 29 percent of women reported that their first sexual
experience was non-consensual. A legal reform in 1983
accorded adult rights to married women for the first time, and
the constitution of 1987 expanded legal protection for all families
whether or not based on legal marriage.
Among the traditional elite, civil and religious marriages are
the norm. Divorce was once rare, but has become more acceptable.
Upper-class wives have entered the labor force in growing
numbers since the 1970s. In general, social trends, rapid
urbanization, and out-migration have extracted a severe toll on
marital unions and family life across class boundaries.
There have been associations of urban women since the
1930s. A number of women's organizations were established in
the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1986 there has been dynamic
growth in women's groups, greater media interest in women's
issues, and somewhat greater participation of women in politics
and government. After the return of constitutional government
in 1994, the Aristide administration created a new government
ministry devoted to women's issues. The ministry acts
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