Myriam Merlet

Who is Myriam Merlet?

Myriam Merlet was a political activist who served as Chief of Staff of the Haitian Ministry of Women’s Affairs. One of the particular focuses of her work was on rape culture. She worked to raise the profile of women in Haiti and abroad, founding the organisation Enfofamn and campaigning for several Haitian streets to be named after women. In 2001 she was instrumental in bringing The Vagina Monologues to the island. Vagina Monologue author Eve Ensler's 2011 spotlight monologue entitled "Myriam" is a tribute and rallying cry to the work that Myriam accomplished in Haiti. The monologue describes how Eve called her friend's cellphone, "believing the ring would find you and wake you, your cell gripped in your buried hand."

She studied feminist theory, sociology and economics in Canada in the 1970s, returning to her native Haiti in the 1980s.

She died in Port-au-Prince in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.