P-au-P, June 27, 2024 [AlterPresse] — The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) expresses great concern about the extent of abuse and other sexual violence used by armed gangs in Haiti, in an article published on its website consulted by the online agency AlterPresse.
Sexual violence is used by armed gangs as a tactic to sow fear and take control of entire neighborhoods, reports Unfpa, which says it is seeing an increase in reports of rape and sexual abuse.
These reports constitute a vast under-representation of the true scale of these crimes, UNFPA qualifies.
« [Les survivantes] often do not like to report the (rapes of which they are victims), mainly for fear of being victimized again,” declared Dr. Edrish Justilien, interviewed by Unfpa on the alarming risks faced by women and girls in the context of the current humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
Justilien, 36, is a psychologist at the Petite Place Cazeau hospital in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
“Rape cases are the ones we see most often, most of them [commis] by armed gangs,” notes the psychologist, for whom “one of the biggest problems is insecurity – and the physical and sexual violence that results from it.”
Justilien invites all young girls, who have suffered abuse and rape, to try to find a place to let off steam, consult a psychologist, avoiding attempting suicide to escape.
“Protection and response services to gender-based violence (GBV) are restricted or suspended due to insecurity. Access to health care, social services and psychological assistance is increasingly rare. Many hospitals have closed or reduced their operations because they lack medicines and staff,” notes UNFPA.
Furthermore, “less than half of Port-au-Prince’s health facilities are fully functional and most are completely overwhelmed.”
UNFPA stresses how “extreme violence, particularly in Port-au-Prince, endangers the lives and health of millions of people.”
“Forced to abandon their homes and risking death, rape, kidnapping and dangerous and overcrowded living conditions, More than 578,000 people are displaced (due to the escalation of armed violence) inside the country. Many suffer severe psychological distress, accompanied by an alarming increase in suicidal tendencies.”
Psychological and health support
UNFPA says it has provided medicines and supplies, particularly for the clinical management of rape cases, to 12 health facilities in the capital and surrounding areas.
Three hospitals in Port-au-Prince have been supported by the United Nations agency to provide essential maternal health services.
“Mobile clinics are also operating at eight displacement sites, to support the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, as are helplines for survivors of sexual assault and safe spaces offering psychological and medical support “. [emb rc apr 27/06/2024 10:25]
