Anti-Duvalier protest movement the "Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale" (Militia of National Security Volunteers). When Duvalier died in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier took over (confirmed by the 1971 constitutional referendum) and the force continued throughout his regime and maintained the same violent presence. Widespread problems of starvation and unemployment soon grew rampant. On 23 May 1984, citizens in the city of Gonaïves began protests against Duvalier’s government calling it "Operation Déchoukaj," () which consequently led to police officers publicly beating a pregnant woman, who soon died. Activists’ listed grievances under Duvalier’s regime, including general brutality against civilians and
Simone Duvalier were encouraged to acquire vocational skills and Simone Ovide was trained as a nurse's aide. While working as a nurse she met a young doctor named François Duvalier. The couple was married on 27 December 1939, and had four children: Marie Denise, Nicole, Simone “Queen”, and Jean-Claude, their only son. After their marriage, François Duvalier became minister of public health and labor in 1949 and won election to the presidency in 1957. Throughout his 14 years in office, his wife guarded access to her husband and developed and promoted her own palace favorites. Because of her acquired status and her