As the political and security crisis in Haiti has deepened in recent years, the use of GBV, particularly sexual violence, has increased as a systematic tool of intimidation and punishment, and ultimately of control. Local civil society organizations are continuing their efforts to support survivors of GBV, but they require additional external assistance. With the formation of a new interim government and the arrival of the Kenyan-led, UN-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission earlier in 2024, it becomes imperative to understand GBV’s deeply entrenched roots and recent expansion and escalation in order to begin to effectively address this crisis.
Introduction
To outside observers, Haiti’s current political situation might appear to be a continuation of its long history of political turmoil, delayed elections, coup d’états, dictatorships, political repression, and human rights abuses. Yet for those closer to the crisis, what has transpired in recent years is unprecedented. The rise of hundreds of well-armed gangs has taken the country’s violent history to new heights. The chaos that ensued after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and the resignation of interim prime minister Ariel Henry in April 2024 has allowed the armed gangs to gain near-total control of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and, increasingly, the countryside. These criminal groups have spread terror among the population, and the use of sexual violence has become a strategic tool for control.
This chaos obscures the gendered consequences of the ongoing violence and insecurity on the population. While no one group is exempt from gang violence, murder, extortion, and other forms of control, the impact on women and girls, and consequently on the societal fabric, merits particular attention. To understand how GBV is being used as a strategic weapon, it is important to recognize how different actors are utilizing such violence, the magnitude of the cruelty, and the sheer number of cases of sexual violence and other forms of GBV in the context of a nearly nonexistent state. It is also important to recognize that Haiti’s historic rates of GBV are rooted in its history, cultural norms, and social structures, which have perpetuated cycles of violence and discrimination against women and girls.
