Post by Paddy by Grace on Mar 18, 2010 23:29:59 GMT -7
Girls as young as two facing rape in tent cities as UN security patrols fail to protect women after Haiti earthquake
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1258693/Girls-young-facing-rape-tent-cities-UN-security-patrols-fail-protect-women-Haiti-earthquake.html?ITO=1490
Girls as young as two are falling victim to rapists who are preying on women and children left homeless by the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Rape is rife in the sprawling tent cities that have become home for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and men are demanding sexual favours in return for food and shelter, according to a report published today.
Doctors are treating children aged two and seven who have been raped in the past fortnight at a refugee camp set up on a golf course in Port-au-Prince.
The shocking revelations were revealed by Alison Thompson, a volunteer medical coordinator for a Haitian relief group created by the actor Sean Penn.
'Women aren't being protected,' she said. 'So when the lights go down is when the rapes increase, and it's happening daily in all the camps in Port-au-Prince.'
With no lighting and no security, the makeshift homes that were supposed to be a haven for the homeless victims of the January 12 earthquake have become menacing places after sunset, particularly for women and children left orphaned or alone by the disaster that claimed 200,000 lives.
But most of the attacks go unreported because of the shame, social stigma and fear of reprisals from attackers.
'Young girls have to negotiate sexually in order to get shelter from the rains and access to food aid,' said a report by the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development in Haiti.
One 21-year-old mother, who said she was gang raped by three men, complained her family had received no food aid because Haitian men were demanding sex before they would hand over distribution coupons.
One of the biggest camps, where more than 47,000 people are crowded into a sports ground in the centre of the city, is home to more than a dozen escaped convicts, among them a man accused of a notorious murder.
'But nobody says anything because they're scared, scared of the criminals and scared of the police,' said Fritznel Pierre, a human rights advocate who lives at the camp.
He has documented three rapes, including one of a 17-year-old who was a virgin before six men attacked and raped her repeatedly.
'I really worry about the teenager because she has no one to look out for her.
'She says she sees her attackers but is afraid to report them because she would then have to leave the camp and she has nowhere to go,' he added.
Aid workers said UN patrols are sparse and ineffective, with security staff rarely getting out of their vehicles.
Besides sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, victims face possible AIDS infection. Haiti has the highest HIV rate in the Western Hemisphere, with one in 50 people infected.
Among the many victims is an 18-year-old girl who lost her parents, grandmother, a sister and three cousins in the quake.
She was roaming the streets distraught when a middle-aged man approached and promised that his wife would look after her.
He took her to a house and then left and returned with two men. They raped her repeatedly until she managed to escape.
She was one of a number of rape victims who appealed to a group of American volunteer lawyers to help them win humanitarian asylum to the U.S.
'I've been here five days and have spoken to 30 rape survivors including a dozen under 18.
'Their stories are horrific. I would be catatonic,' said San Francisco lawyer Jayne Fleming.
Haiti police chief Mario Andresol blamed the attacks on the 7,000 prisoners who escaped.
'Bandits are taking advantage to harass and rape women and young girls under the tents,' he said.
'We are aware of the problem, but it's not a priority,' information minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said last month.
The first signs of action came at the weekend with a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He promised the camps will be 'safe and secure'.
'We must protect these women and girls. If they are sexually abused and attacked and raped, that is totally unacceptable and intolerable and we must stop it,' he added.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1258693/Girls-young-facing-rape-tent-cities-UN-security-patrols-fail-protect-women-Haiti-earthquake.html?ITO=1490
Girls as young as two are falling victim to rapists who are preying on women and children left homeless by the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Rape is rife in the sprawling tent cities that have become home for hundreds of thousands of Haitians and men are demanding sexual favours in return for food and shelter, according to a report published today.
Doctors are treating children aged two and seven who have been raped in the past fortnight at a refugee camp set up on a golf course in Port-au-Prince.
The shocking revelations were revealed by Alison Thompson, a volunteer medical coordinator for a Haitian relief group created by the actor Sean Penn.
'Women aren't being protected,' she said. 'So when the lights go down is when the rapes increase, and it's happening daily in all the camps in Port-au-Prince.'
With no lighting and no security, the makeshift homes that were supposed to be a haven for the homeless victims of the January 12 earthquake have become menacing places after sunset, particularly for women and children left orphaned or alone by the disaster that claimed 200,000 lives.
But most of the attacks go unreported because of the shame, social stigma and fear of reprisals from attackers.
'Young girls have to negotiate sexually in order to get shelter from the rains and access to food aid,' said a report by the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development in Haiti.
One 21-year-old mother, who said she was gang raped by three men, complained her family had received no food aid because Haitian men were demanding sex before they would hand over distribution coupons.
One of the biggest camps, where more than 47,000 people are crowded into a sports ground in the centre of the city, is home to more than a dozen escaped convicts, among them a man accused of a notorious murder.
'But nobody says anything because they're scared, scared of the criminals and scared of the police,' said Fritznel Pierre, a human rights advocate who lives at the camp.
He has documented three rapes, including one of a 17-year-old who was a virgin before six men attacked and raped her repeatedly.
'I really worry about the teenager because she has no one to look out for her.
'She says she sees her attackers but is afraid to report them because she would then have to leave the camp and she has nowhere to go,' he added.
Aid workers said UN patrols are sparse and ineffective, with security staff rarely getting out of their vehicles.
Besides sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, victims face possible AIDS infection. Haiti has the highest HIV rate in the Western Hemisphere, with one in 50 people infected.
Among the many victims is an 18-year-old girl who lost her parents, grandmother, a sister and three cousins in the quake.
She was roaming the streets distraught when a middle-aged man approached and promised that his wife would look after her.
He took her to a house and then left and returned with two men. They raped her repeatedly until she managed to escape.
She was one of a number of rape victims who appealed to a group of American volunteer lawyers to help them win humanitarian asylum to the U.S.
'I've been here five days and have spoken to 30 rape survivors including a dozen under 18.
'Their stories are horrific. I would be catatonic,' said San Francisco lawyer Jayne Fleming.
Haiti police chief Mario Andresol blamed the attacks on the 7,000 prisoners who escaped.
'Bandits are taking advantage to harass and rape women and young girls under the tents,' he said.
'We are aware of the problem, but it's not a priority,' information minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue said last month.
The first signs of action came at the weekend with a visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He promised the camps will be 'safe and secure'.
'We must protect these women and girls. If they are sexually abused and attacked and raped, that is totally unacceptable and intolerable and we must stop it,' he added.
