The International Rescue Committee’s Director of Communications Melissa Winkler has a stellar piece in the Huffington Post today exploring the role that women was play in rebuilding Haiti.

Excerpt below, but be sure to click through to the article for some amazing photos:

Walking through these settlements, you also can’t help but notice how many women are alone. Some were likely single moms before the earthquake. But many have probably been widowed or separated from male family members by the chaos of the situation. They tend to keep to their dwellings to care for their families and are too often overlooked or miss out on distributions of food and supplies.

My colleague Robyn Yaker (left), who is spearheading the International Rescue Committee’s programs to increase aid and security for women and girls in Haiti, tells me that in a disaster like this, women and girls are uniquely affected. “They’re exposed and that makes them more susceptible to sexual violence, and they have a harder time accessing supplies, which puts them at risk of exploitation when they try to get them.”

This why the IRC is putting women and girls at the center of its relief efforts in Haiti, to ensure that vulnerable women like Minouche feel safer, have a voice in the design and placement of latrines, showers and other facilities they want and need, and have access to vital information, supplies, and other services, including psychological and clinical care for survivors of violence. “They have a right to live their lives in a dignified way, regardless of their circumstances,” Robyn says.