In Haiti, displaced women and girls threatened by a “rise” in sexual violence, warns the UN

A consequence of the gang violence that is plaguing the country. In Haiti, several thousand women and girls displaced by this violence are threatened by a “flight” sexual violence, warns the UN, Tuesday, August 27. “The risk of sexual violence for women and girls living in displacement sites in the capital Port-au-Prince is increasing rapidly, in part due to their deplorable living conditions”worries the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in a press release.

Many of the approximately 185,000 people forced to flee their homes in Port-au-Prince are living in makeshift camps visited by the UN agency. In 14 of the camps, more than half of the toilets and many of the showers are not separated for men and women. Many showers do not lock, and many sites have no lights at night. “As a result, many women and girls are at risk of sexual assault every time they go to the toilet or take a shower.”denounces the UNFPA.

“With what I’ve been through, I would have preferred to die”says in the press release a mother of seven children, sexually assaulted while she was sleeping in a park after fleeing gangs. “When they saw that there was no man with me, they attacked me, even though I was four months pregnant. I live in pain, I have trouble breathing, I am afraid for my daughter who is 11 years old”.

This type of aggression is on the rise in the country: “Between March and May 2024, the number of cases of sexual and gender-based violence recorded by UNFPA and its partners increased by more than 40%, but these reported cases are only a small part of the total,” warns the agency. According to the UN, these acts of violence increased from 250 in January-February to more than 1,500 in March, reaching more than 2,000 in April-May.