Overview

• A new report from the United Nations' human rights office calls for immediate action to address the 'cataclysmic situation' in Haiti, driven by rampant gang violence.
• Gang violence in Haiti has resulted in at least 4,451 deaths in 2023 and over 1,500 deaths in the first three months of 2024.
• Sexual violence, including rapes and forced sexual relations with gang members, is severely underreported and used as a tool to spread fear and control the population.
• Children are being recruited by gangs, used for various roles including lookouts and forced into sexual slavery; some have been executed for trying to leave.
• The report emphasizes the urgent need for a multinational security support mission to assist the Haitian National Police and restore security, as well as tighter controls on the trafficking of weapons and ammunition.