Translated by Irene Cecchi
Amnesty International recently published a report on Haiti criminal groups’ violence against minors. It includes sexual abuses, forced enrollment and violent attacks. It’s a report that gives goosebumps, underlining how Haitian children’s bodies are now the battlefield; in Haiti, the real war, it’s fought over their lives.
In 2021, the President Jovenel Moise was murdered and, from that moment on, Haiti armed groups’ violence saw a significant growth, up to controlling 75% of the capital Port-au-Prince as at today. The report estimates 5600 people killed in 2024, 5.5 million people needing humanitarian aid and more than a million children living in areas under these groups’ control and, therefore, subjected to their violence.
James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson, underlined the 1000% raise in sexual abuses against Haitian children, describing these atrocities as “unimaginable horrors”.
Forced enrollment
The Amnesty International report documents the cases of 14 children, 11 boys and 3 girls, victims of forced enrollment, a practice banned by international law and also by Haitian legislation.
The majority of children are forced to enroll, others are manipulated and others are pushed to that by extreme poverty. Either way, regardless of the reason, about 1.2 million children in Haiti livi under the menace of violence, they grow up experiencing it: it’s a lethal spiral that has no end, repeating over and over.
Collecting information, delivering, and housekeeping are just some of the works that they were assigned with.
A boy enrolled by armed groups in 2023 had to keep control over a group of raped women hidden in a field with a gun. The interviewed girls, instead, told how they had to clean the house and cook meals for the members of the armed groups.
Another 17 years old boy was enrolled to serve as “antenna” meaning that he had to forewarn the group when a rival was approaching. Every time he notified one, he received a compensation but in case he didn’t manage to do that in time, he would have paid with his life.
In 2024, the number of enrolled children raised by 70% (some of them are only 8 years old). Currently, it’s estimated that minors contribute to 30/50% of these groups’ composition.
Sexual violence
Sexual abuse is repeatedly used in periods of political instability as weapon by criminal gangs. Every war and precariousness period leads to an enormous growth of rapes and abuses against girls. The main reason is always the same: show that they are in power, they have the control over the population and, consequently, they can instill fear.
The Amnesty’s report documents the cases of 18 girls abused by gang members, 10 of them being groups assaults, 9 rapes and 2 in displaced camps.
Two sisters were heading back home from school when a group of men stopped them: one of them was assaulted by five men, the other sister by six.
These violences inevitably lead to psychological traumas and unwanted pregnancies, in a country where abortion is illegal. A 16 years old girl was stopped at a bus station, raped by three boys and left naked in the middle of the street. She didn't say a word to anybody until her period stopped. Her mom went with her to a clinic where they discovered the pregnancy. She tried to abort with unsafe homemade ways, risking her own life, but it didn't work and she ended up having a child that remembers her about what she suffered that day years ago. She became a mother without a job, with limited resources, she also attempted suicide; she dreamt of studying and becoming a nurse.
The sexual abuses that these girls have to endure need specialized medical care but, in a country where basic medical services lack and hospitals are collapsing, the situation inevitably leads to an increase of mortality rate and sexually transmitted diseases among girls.
Not to mention how these violences spread a feel of stigma difficult to get rid of, a rejection by the community that will only isolate them more, as if they were not already alone.
What about charges? Nothing. The areas under criminal gangs’ control are mostly characterized by the absence of police forces or judicial authorities that may help these girls. How is it possible to file charges in a city controlled by 75% by gangs?
Killings
Armed groups’ incursions cause many wounded and killed. Amnesty International reported 10 cases of injured children, all aged between 5 and 17 years old.
In this area instability reigns, people can’t be safe. A 13 years old girl tells how she has nightmares every night of when her family was threatened by setting their house on fire.
It’s clear that in Haiti fear is on every child’s face, silent victims of a neverending crisis. And while the whole world is watching, the future of a generation is blown away.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduzione Riservata ® 2025
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L'Autore
Giorgia Milan
Giorgia Milan, classe 1998, ha conseguito una laurea triennale in “scienze politiche, relazioni internazionali e governo delle amministrazioni”, con una tesi riguardo la condizione femminile in Afghanistan, e successivamente una laurea magistrale in “Human rights and multi-level governance”, con una tesi riguardo la condizione delle donne rifugiate nel contesto dell’attuale guerra Russo-Ucraina, il tutto presso l’Università degli studi di Padova.
I suoi interessi principali sono i diritti umani, in particolare i diritti delle donne. È proprio il forte interesse per questi temi che l’ha spinta a intraprendere un tirocinio universitario presso il Centro Donna di Padova, durante il quale ha avuto la possibilità di approcciarsi al mondo della scrittura e della creazione di contenuti riguardanti la violenza di genere e le discriminazioni.
In Mondo Internazionale Post Giorgia Milan è un'autrice per l'area tematica di Diritti Umani.
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haiti bande criminali Violenza diritti dei bambin