Haiti’s Children Become ‘Battlegrounds’ as Gang Violence Fuels 1,000% Surge in Sexual Assaults, UNICEF Reports

Haiti’s descent into lawlessness under gang rule has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, with sexual violence against children surging by 1,000% since 2023, according to a dire warning from UNICEF. Armed groups now control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, turning neighborhoods into zones of terror where minors are subjected to kidnappings, rape, and forced recruitment, the agency said.

Children Targeted as Gangs Tighten Grip

James Elder, UNICEF’s global spokesperson, described gangs as “weaponizing sexual violence” to instill fear, citing the case of a 16-year-old girl abducted while shopping, beaten, drugged, and raped daily for a month before being discarded when her family couldn’t pay ransom. She now resides in a U.N.-run shelter alongside dozens of other survivors.

“Children’s bodies have become battlegrounds,” Elder said. “This is a war being waged on Haiti’s future.”

With over one million children living under constant threat, UNICEF estimates 30% of girls in gang-controlled areas have endured sexual assault. Boys are forcibly recruited into gangs, some as young as eight, and coerced into violence.

Collapse of Systems, International Aid Shortfalls

Gang dominance has shattered Haiti’s already fragile institutions. Schools and hospitals are shuttered or barely functional, while 5,600 people were killed in gang violence last year alone. A food crisis has left 4.4 million Haitians—nearly half the population—facing acute hunger.

UNICEF’s mobile safe spaces, which provide psychosocial support and medical care to children, remain critically underfunded. A 2023 appeal for $221 million yielded just 25% of its target. Now, aid groups fear U.S. cuts to global humanitarian funding—part of a congressional freeze—will deepen Haiti’s neglect.

“Children here have lost everything: safety, education, even childhood itself,” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s Haiti representative. “The world’s silence is complicity.”

Political Vacuum Fuels Chaos

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, tasked with restoring order after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, remains mired in infighting. November’s ouster of interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry failed to quell unrest, and elections remain a distant prospect.

“There is no state,” said Emmanuela Douyon, a Port-au-Prince activist. “Gangs dictate life and death while leaders debate in closed rooms.”

Global Response ‘Abandoning a Generation’

Advocates warn Haiti’s crisis risks fading from international agendas. The U.S. State Department has paused select aid streams, though officials stress support for humanitarian efforts continues. Meanwhile, regional powers like Kenya have delayed deploying a U.N.-backed security force amid legal challenges.

“Haiti’s children cannot wait for geopolitics,” Elder said. “Every day without action, another girl is raped, another boy is handed a gun.”

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