Haiti listed among countries with highest number of conflict-related sexual violence cases

UNITED NATIONS, CMC – Haiti is listed among countries with the highest cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) as the United Nations stressed the need to support survivors in conflict zones where services are increasingly inaccessible.

Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, addressing the UN Security Council listed Haiti along with Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia and South Sudan with the most CRSV cases.

Earlier this week, the humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Christian Vovi, said the gang violence in Haiti is affecting the organisation’s work in the French-speaking CARICOM country.

As gang violence across Haiti escalates, and the United States and other donors reduce their humanitarian funding with at least 1.3 million people having to flee their homes and as a result are facing the direst of consequences.

Women and girls face the brunt of this crisis. Gender-based violence (GBV) such as gang rape is rampant, particularly in the capital Port-au-Prince, and is exacerbated by precarious conditions in displacement camps

In presenting the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ report to the Security Council, Patten said the crisis of CRSV is deepening, reflecting the widening scope of warfare globally. There were more than 4,600 reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, marking a 25 per cent increase from 2023. Patten said this data is a chronic undercount, only reflecting cases verified by the UN.

Amid a general rise in CRSV, sexual violence against children increased by a disturbing 35 per cent in the past year, with victims as young as one year old.

The report spans 21 situations of concern, and outside of the numbers, Patten explained numerous concerning trends seen in the report.

Firstly, displaced and refugee women and girls are exposed to heightened risks of sexual violence, which inhibit their safe return. Food insecurity also heightens the risk of sexual violence as belligerent parties restrict humanitarian access.

Additionally, armed groups use sexual violence to consolidate control over territory and natural resources, and to incentivise the recruitment of fighters.

Notably, CRSV also persists in formal and informal detention settings worldwide.

Finally, as funding cuts cause UN peace operations to draw down, the capacity of the UN system to reach and support CRSV survivors has greatly diminished.

The report notes that as global military spending in just 24 hours exceeds what is allocated in a year to address CRSV, and needs continue to rise, and Patten stressed that “women’s frontline organisations are going from underfunded to unfunded.”

Outside of UN peacekeeping missions decreasing their capacities, funding cuts have caused shelters for survivors to shutter, medical supplies for rape victims to run out and clinics to close worldwide.

In major conflict hotspots where healthcare systems have been decimated, “humanitarian organisations forced to do more and more with less and less and less.”

“If we are serious about peace, we must fund the institutions that make peace possible. If we are serious about security, we must reaffirm the Rule of Law, and hold accountable those who commit, command, or condone grave violations, including the atrocity crime of conflict-related sexual violence,” she urged.

Patten said her mandate is pursuing three lines of response: fostering compliance, enhancing service delivery and strengthening safeguards against impunity.

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