©️UN-Women
Port-au-Prince, September 6, 2025.- Beyond widespread insecurity, internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince face an alarming increase in sexual violence and the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). According to several accounts, adolescent girls are the main targets of the attackers, leaving behind them deep trauma and serious infections.
In a recently published article, Ayibopost relayed the disturbing testimony of the mother of an 11-year-old girl raped in the KID party camp in Bourdon. After the attack, the child suffered from bleeding, pain and fever. Medical examinations not only confirmed rape, but also revealed that she had been infected with HIV.
Since May 2025, the Central Committee of the Solino Humanitarian Corridor has documented about 10 cases of rape of minors in several camps, including those in Bois-Verna, OPC, KID and Fusion. The committee's coordinator, Genson Jean-Baptiste, referred to the possible existence of a paedophile network operating with impunity within these sites which are supposed to offer refuge.
Last month, another 11-year-old girl denounced her assailant in the camp of the National School of the Republic of Colombia in Bourdon. His mother claims that the child lived under the constant threat of men present at the site. Like other families, they report being trapped by poverty in an environment where sexual assault, domestic violence and exploitation have become commonplace.
Ayibopost calls on the authorities to take immediate responsibility. The newspaper believes that violence against children, the spread of HIV and the climate of terror in these camps should not go unpunished. The Haitian State has an obligation to intervene to protect internally displaced persons, reduce promiscuity and stop these abuses. Inaction would mean condemning the most vulnerable and putting the country's future at risk.
W.E.
