‘Staggering’ growth in sexual violence against children in Haiti, United Nations says
The gang rule in Haiti has increased sexual violence against children, warning by the UN children’s organization.
The Caribbean Island has been in the grip of violent gangs for many years, who have been treating the population with incredible cruelty, UNICEF said.
Spokesperson James Elder said that sexual violence against children has increased by 1,000% since 2023.
UNICEF estimates that 85% of the Capital Port-A-Prince is under the control of the gang. More than a million children are living with constant danger of violence.
Mr. Elder gave an example of a 16 -year -old girl who left the house to shop, and then seized by armed men. He was beaten, druged, and repeatedly raped.
He was held for about a month, he said, until the gang allowed him to leave when he realized that his family had no money to pay ransom. Kidnapping is common in Haiti for forcible recovery.
He is now in a United Nations shelter in which dozens of other girls are getting care.
Gang control in Port-e-Prince has fulfilled almost complete breakdown of law and order, collapse of health services and a food security crisis.
Last year, more than 5,600 people were killed in gang violence in Haiti alone.
Haiti’s transitional presidential council appears to be in the upheaval, the body, to organize elections and re-establish the democratic order.
The council replaced the interim Prime Minister in November, but has made very little progress towards holding a long delayed election.
The children are also being admitted by the gang, sometimes forcibly, UNICEF said.
The organization has come to the members of the Bal gang who are young at the age of eight.
Basics that high-lotion children require a normal childhood, even though they are still at home with their families, are virtually non-existent UNICEFs. Schools and hospitals are barely working and tens of thousands of children are not in school.
UNICEF has created a mobile safe place in Haiti to support children and prevent sexual violence.
But last year, when it appealed to $ 221.4 (£ 177.8m) to fund their work in Haiti, she received just a quarter.
It is now feared that Haiti’s needs will be re -neglected, with US freeze on foreign aid affecting human projects worldwide.
