Haiti’s Escalating Gender-Based Violence Crisis: Aid Organizations Struggle as Funding Collapses and Gang Violence Surges

December 12, 2025

Haiti’s humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic proportions as aid organizations confront an unprecedented surge in gender-based violence while facing severe funding shortages that threaten to dismantle critical support services for survivors. A comprehensive investigation by the Miami Herald reveals a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, with local organizations turning away rape survivors and international funding streams drying up at the moment of greatest need.

The Scope of the Crisis

Between January and August 2025, Haitian aid organization Kay Fanm (Women’s House) documented 950 cases of violence against women, with hundreds involving sexual assault. These cases represent a fraction of the more than 7,400 gender-based violence incidents reported nationwide this year—an average of 27 cases daily, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Women and girls now comprise over half of Haiti’s 1.4 million internally displaced persons, forced from their homes by escalating gang violence that has transformed displacement camps into breeding grounds for sexual violence. The United Nations warns that without immediate intervention, nearly 780,000 women and girls will lose access to critical services including clinical rape management, mental health support, and safe spaces.

Healthcare Infrastructure Under Siege

The crisis has devastated Haiti’s already fragile healthcare infrastructure. GHESKIO, the pioneering medical center that has treated HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis patients for decades, has become a frontline responder to gender-based violence. Despite treating approximately 400 rape survivors in 2024, the center faces mounting challenges: nearly 400 employees have fled the country due to violence, 24 medical professionals have been kidnapped, and the United Nations slashed $250,000 in funding for gender-based violence programs in December 2023.

Dr. Bernard Liautaud, GHESKIO co-founder, emphasizes that rape survivors require sustained psychological support extending over years, not days. The center has absorbed costs exceeding $2,300 per caesarean section for adolescent rape victims whose bodies are too underdeveloped for natural delivery, while simultaneously providing housing assistance, school fees, and relocation services for survivors who have lost everything.

Shelter System Overwhelmed

Haiti’s shelter system faces unprecedented demand. Òganizasyon Fanm Vanyan an Aksyon (OFAVA), one of Port-au-Prince’s few operational shelters, was forced to relocate after gangs seized its previous location in Santo. Founder Lamercie Charles-Pierre reports that survivors regularly arrive with no possessions, only to be turned away due to insufficient bed capacity and funding constraints.

The shelter crisis extends beyond Port-au-Prince. In Jacmel, Fanm Deside (Women Decide) continues operating domestic violence shelters through piecemeal donations while documenting cases of women raped in police custody. The organization’s regional director, Rochel Delpeche, describes a troubling phenomenon of child abandonment, including infants born from rape, as mothers grapple with trauma-induced psychological breakdowns.

Displacement Camps: Unsafe Havens

Displacement camps have become epicenters of sexual violence, lacking basic security infrastructure including doors, locks, adequate lighting, and privacy barriers. Pascal Solages of Nègès Mawon (Maroon Woman) reports that 60% of the 800 women and girls her organization assisted this year reside in these camps, where sexual violence functions as a deliberate tactic to control access to humanitarian assistance.

The psychological toll extends to aid workers themselves. Nadesha Mijoba, executive director of the Haitian Health Foundation in Jérémie, notes that medical centers have been forced to create internal mental health support systems for staff overwhelmed by the severity of cases they encounter daily.

Funding Crisis Threatens Response Capacity

The humanitarian response faces a critical $13.5 million funding gap within a total $19 million budget requirement for 2025. The crisis has been exacerbated by the loss of $1.3 billion in USAID funding following the Trump administration’s agency shutdown, creating what aid organizations describe as an existential threat to service provision.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, warns that without immediate funding, nearly 780,000 women and girls will lose access to essential services. Local organizations report “scraping together money” to maintain operations, with many facing imminent closure.

International Response and Recommendations

Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief, describes the brutality level as “truly terrifying,” emphasizing that survivors are “fighting not just for their lives, but for dignity.” The international community faces mounting pressure to address not only immediate humanitarian needs but also systemic issues including Haiti’s obsolete laws regarding abortion, adoption, and adolescent medical treatment without parental consent.

Medical professionals advocate for comprehensive legal reform, noting that current regulations prevent optimal care for adolescent rape survivors and complicate adoption processes for children born from sexual violence. Dr. Jean William Pape of GHESKIO emphasizes that “there is so much that needs to be done” beyond immediate medical care, including addressing the vicious cycle that forces survivors to live alongside their assailants.

Looking Forward

As Haiti’s crisis deepens, aid organizations stress that the international community’s response will determine whether the country can prevent the complete collapse of its gender-based violence response infrastructure. The Miami Herald investigation reveals that without immediate funding intervention and sustained international commitment, Haiti risks losing a generation of women and girls to unchecked sexual violence and systemic abandonment.

The investigation underscores that effective response requires not only emergency funding but also long-term commitment to rebuilding healthcare infrastructure, reforming legal frameworks, and creating sustainable protection mechanisms for the most vulnerable populations. As Dr. Harry Theodore of GHESKIO notes, the current situation represents “a vicious cycle” that demands comprehensive, coordinated international intervention to break patterns of violence and ensure survivor access to justice, healthcare, and protection.