Women in Haiti facing ‘unprecedented’ insecurity and violence, UN group claims

UN Women – the agency that champions gender equality recently – said displaced women faced an “unprecedented” level of insecurity and sexual violence in Haiti, saying that instability in the French-speaking Caribbean country is fuelling a spike in sexual violence against women and girls as armed gangs continue their assault on the population.

A new report by the agency reveals the dire living conditions and lack of security faced by some 300,000 displaced women and girls amid ongoing political instability, escalating gang violence and the threat of the current hurricane season.

Women and girls account for more than half of the 580,000 displaced people in Haiti, and the UN Women Rapid Gender Assessment highlights how makeshift camps, which lack basic necessities, are putting them at particular risk of sexual and gender-based violence.

UN Women said the survey was conducted in April in the six most populated and diverse displacement sites in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

“The constant danger of stray bullets and other security risks further underscores the urgent need for improved protection in these sites,” the survey says. “Aggression against women and girls, specifically rape, is also being used in most camps as a deliberate tactic to control their access to humanitarian assistance.”

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said “the report tells us that the level of insecurity and brutality, including sexual violence, that women are facing at the hands of gangs in Haiti is unprecedented. It must stop now.”

“We urge the newly appointed government to take measures to prevent and respond to the violence women and girls are subjected to, and to increase women’s participation in the camps’ management, so that their security concerns are listened to and acted upon,” she said.