No one is safe in Haiti

Agencies Port-au-Prince

Gang rule in the Caribbean island  of Haiti has led to a staggering rise in sexual violence against children, the United Nations' children's organisation has said. The island has been in the grip of violent gangs for several years who have been treating the population with unrelenting brutality, Unicef said. Sexual violence against children has increased 1,000% since 2023, turning their bodies "into battlegrounds", spokesman James Elder said.

Unicef estimates 85% of the capital Port-au-Prince is under the control of gangs. More than one million children are living with the constant threat of violence. Kidnappings for extortion are common in Haiti. Elder gave an example of a 16-year-old girl who went  out to shop supplies and was seized by armed men, beaten,  drugged, and repeatedly raped. She was held for around one month until the gang realised her family had no money to pay a ransom and let her go. She is now in a UN shelter with dozens of other girls receiving care.

Gang control in Port-au-Prince has led to an almost complete breakdown of law and order, the collapse of health services and emergence of a food security crisis. More than 5,600 people were killed in gang violence in Haiti last year alone. Haiti's transitional presidential council, the body created to organise elections and re-establish democratic order, appears to be in turmoil.

Children are also being recruited by the gangs, sometimes forcibly, Unicef said. The organisation has come across child gang members who are as young as eight. Unicef’s effort  to provide  mobile safe spaces in Haiti to support children has been hit  by a cash crunch. It's feared now that with the US freeze on foreign aid affecting humanitarian projects worldwide, Haiti's needs will be neglected again.