Sonia Pierre (Dominican Republic, 2006)

Born in a batey—the name given to settlements for sugar cane cutters working for the Dominican sugar industry—Sonia grew up experiencing the social, economic, legal and cultural barriers that prevent Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent from enjoying their basic human rights in the Dominican Republic. Sonia went on to study social work and law and took a leadership role in social movement for the rights of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent. She founded MUDHA (the Movement of Dominican Women of Haitian Descent) in the early 1980s with a group of advocates who decided that they needed an organization specifically to promote empowerment of women in the Dominco-Haitian community. She has served as MUDHA’s director for the past 14 years, becoming one of the nation’s leading grassroots activists for Haitian immigrants and their children, developing educational programs and works defending the rights of women in the Dominican Republic through promoting labor rights, healthcare and legal education.

Sonia has received national and international attention for spearheading a campaign using public education and legal action to reform and regularize the Dominican Republic’s birth registration system, which functionally denies the right to nationality and a legal identity to children of Haitian descent born in the Dominican Republic, affecting possibly as many as 280,000 Dominicans. The system has denied the legal documentation necessary to reap the benefits of nationality and citizenship; specifically legal equality, freedom from fear of illegal deportation and access to crucial human rights like healthcare and education.

For more information, please contact Marselha Gonçalves Margerin
(202) 463-7575 x224, gmargerin@rfkmemorial.org

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