Children in Haiti face sexual violence, other forms of abuse, and recruitment into local gangs, according to a report published by Amnesty International on Feb. 12.
The report states that armed gangs have "escalated significantly" in Haiti since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. It highlights that 5,600 people died in Haiti last year, and 5.5 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance. The capital, Port-au-Prince, is largely controlled by gangs, the report said.
Christian Daily International previously reported on a young Christian couple killed by a gang in Haiti. David Lloyd III, 23, and his wife, Natalie, 21, were murdered on May 23, 2024, during an armed gang raid alongside local mission director Jude Montis, 45. The couple had been married since June 2022. David Lloyd Jr., father of the younger David, vowed at the time to continue the work of Missions in Haiti Inc., which he founded with his wife, Alicia, in 2000.
The couple had supported ministries established by Missions in Haiti Inc., focusing on helping children in poverty. Their projects included the House of Compassion, which provides schooling, Good Hope Boy’s Home for boys who lost everything in the 2008 hurricanes, and a weekly church program for children. Haitian children and staff, locked for safety in the House of Compassion during the gang raid, heard the younger David preaching as he was killed.
The Amnesty International report records the continuation of such violence in 2025, with a million children still living in areas under gang control. These children suffer from “recruitment into gangs, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abductions, killings, and injuries.” The report also documents the disproportionate impact on children with disabilities.
“Gangs have caused widespread distress in Haiti. They threaten, beat, rape, and kill children. They have committed multiple abuses of children’s rights, including the rights to life, to education, and to freedom of movement,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.
“The lives of far too many children in Haiti are being wrecked, and they have nowhere to go for protection or justice. They are chased and at times killed by self-defense groups, while the authorities arbitrarily detain them. Childhood is being stolen.
“It is time for Haitian authorities and the international community, including donors, to step up their efforts. Empty expressions of concern are not enough. Children’s bodies, minds, and hearts are violated every day. Haiti needs urgent assistance to protect children and to prevent further cycles of violence.”
The violence in Haiti has been documented by Amnesty International researchers who interviewed 112 people during a visit to Port-au-Prince in September 2024. Interviewees included children, government officials, Haitian and international aid workers, and UN staff members.
The research covered abuse and human rights violations in eight communes of the West Department. Amnesty International wrote to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé in December 2024, presenting the findings, but as of publication, no response has been received.
