As violence and insecurity overwhelms the Caribbean nation of Haiti, UNICEF and Save the Children sound the alarm on dramatic increases in child death, injury, and, in particular, sexual violence against children.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Haiti has experienced dramatic increases in child sexual violence, death and injury, according to recent statements of the UN’s Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the international charitable organization, Save the Children.
Last week, the UN Children’s Fund decried a “10-fold rise,” in sexual violence against children in Haiti, recorded from 2023 to last year, “as armed groups inflict unimaginable horrors on children.”
1,000 percent rise in sexual violence against children
UNICEF Global Spokesperson James Elder decried that “a staggering 1,000 percent rise in sexual violence against children in Haiti has turned their bodies into battlegrounds.”
Elder had visited the nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince, where armed violence is overwhelming communities, especially affecting children.
The UNICEF spokesman stressed that armed groups now control 85 percent of Port-au-Prince, creating an “astounding case of insecurity in a capital city.”
Collapse of essential services
Last year alone, he said, child recruitment into armed groups surged by 70 percent, adding that “right now, up to half of all armed group members are children—some as young as eight years old.”
“Many,” he explained, “are taken by force. Others are manipulated or driven by extreme poverty. It’s a lethal cycle: Children are recruited into the groups that fuel their own suffering.”
Moreover, the UNICEF representative noted, 1.2 million children live under the constant threat of armed violence.
“Essential services,” Elder observed, “have collapsed. Hospitals are overwhelmed. More than half of Haiti’s health facilities lack the equipment and medication to treat children in emergencies.”
Increase in child death and injuries
On Monday, Save the Children likewise spoke of the absolute increase in child deaths and injuries in 2024.
During the year, the organization stated, an average of about 24 children were killed or injured each month, making 2024 “the deadliest year for children and their families in the country since violence escalated three years ago.”
According to an analysis of United Nations data, it noted, last year armed groups in Haiti killed or injured 289 children, an increase of 68% compared to 172 in 2023. However, they point out, the actual number of child victims is likely much higher.
Save the Children highlighted that more than one in three children killed in the last three months of 2024 were members of armed groups.
