In pictures: Hardship and hope in Haiti

Yolande Theagene works as a seamstress in a women's workshop in Martissant, a poor district of Port-au-Prince.

The workshop manager says there has been a sharp increase in gang violence and domestic abuse in the area with the political fighting and breakdown in basic services.

The workshop aims to empower women by making them less financially dependent on men and providing assistance to victims of abuse. It has been a success story, and now employs 23 women.