Port-au-Prince 11 September 2023 – Gang violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, and the department of Artibonite, continues to escalate, says UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, with much of the violence targeting women and girls.
Sexual violence and abuse remain pervasive and UNFPA’s partners have reported a sharp increase in gender-based violence. In the first six months of 2023, more than 19,000 people accessed gender-based violence services, likely to be a fraction of those in need. More than 80 percent were women and girls.
"Sexual violence, including rape and sexual exploitation, continues to be used in gang-controlled areas as a weapon to instill fear and punish the population," said UNFPA Representative in Haiti, Philippe Serge Degernier. “This violence is making an already critical humanitarian situation even worse, as women and girls are forced to live in fear on a daily basis.”
The latest wave of violence resulted in the forced displacement of more than 10,000 people in the Carrefour-Feuilles district of Port-au-Prince, adding to the more than 130,000 people who are already displaced in the Haitian capital.
The violence has worsened the plight of displaced Haitian women and girls who face mounting hunger and lack access to basic health care or protection services, including reproductive health care and services to respond to gender-based violence.
UNFPA is supporting the Haitian Government, and working with UN and national partners, to provide lifesaving health and protection services for women and girls in the worst-hit areas.
In response to the increasingly challenging context, and the mounting needs of displaced women and girls, UNFPA is supporting reproductive health services in displacement shelters and health facilities that are still functioning. Mobile teams, which include social workers and community mobilizers, are providing treatment, case management and psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence in areas controlled by gangs. As capacity and security issues strain the response, UNFPA is training health personnel and providing post-rape kits to health facilities to support survivors of violence. Basic hygiene and maternity supplies are also being distributed to women and girls.
“UNFPA will continue to do what is needed and what it does best: respond to women’s and girls’ emergency healthcare and protection needs,” said Serge Degernier. “As needs increase, however, limited funding is hampering our humanitarian response. UNFPA calls on the international community to prioritize the rights and health of Haitian women and girls as they struggle to survive.”
In 2023 UNFPA is appealing for US$ 9.75 million for its humanitarian response in Haiti. As of end of August 2023 the appeal was just over 50 percent funded. Additional resources will enable UNFPA to increase the number of mobile teams, train more personnel and procure medicines and supplies to ensure that women and girls can access lifesaving reproductive health and protection services.
UNFPA media contact in Haiti:
Vario Sérant, serant@unfpa.org; +509 37 01 4872; +509 33 16 02 08
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
