How the breakdown of civil society impacts Haiti’s youth

Port-au-Prince has lost the beautiful qualities that once made it a source of national pride. It was where the biggest universities were located, where young people used to come to find a future, where everything that gave the country direction took root. This capital, which once symbolized hope, knowledge, and development for the Haitian people, has become a dark place where dreams go astray. 

Today, Port-au-Prince is a battlefield, a place where life has no value, where young people, especially young boys, live like animals without a shepherd. Many have no place to sleep, no center to welcome them, no one to guide them. Every day, they fall deeper into violence, drugs, weapons, and crime. This is due to years of great negligence from the top of the system. Without any support, these boys become too vulnerable to gang pressure.

According to UNICEF, the number of children joining gangs in Haiti has increased by 70% in just this past year. There are two major gang groups in Port-au-Prince, and children represent half of their members. Desperation makes them dangerous. All they really want is food, money –– just the means to survive. But because of the desperate situation they are in, even these basic needs can make them tools of violence when they are given weapons. They turn their anger on their own families and communities.

While all that is happening, it is the girls who suffer the most. They are subjected to the most serious acts of cruelty. They are raped, beaten, impregnated, and abandoned without any help. There are cases of rape of girls as young as 6 years old. These girls flee the capital to seek help in other places like Jacmel. But the same misery, the same silence, the same rejection await them there. Violence, neglect, and the total absence of the State, are leading Haiti to complete destruction. 

Parents can no longer do anything because the conditions are so difficult. Schools are closing. Hospitals cannot take care of everyone. And our youth, who hold all our brightest hopes, are slowly dying. In this situation, AFADLA (the Women's Association for the Development of Lafon), raises its voice to ask for help for the youth. 

In the Jacmel area, where we are located, every day we receive young girls from Port-au-Prince who are completely broken. Some of them have been raped, thrown out, and have nowhere to go. They do not come looking for money, they do not come looking for favors, they come looking for dignity, security. 

We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to these problems. Every girl we receive is a soldier who has escaped. Every boy who is lost is a child we all have abandoned. It is time to act now. AFADLA calls on everyone to stand up. The State must set up centers where boys at risk can live with dignity, get an education, and get out of this hell. Medical, psychological, and social care programs must be set up for girls who are victims of sexual violence. There must be education, training, and prevention so that children do not fall into the hands of gangs. We call for financial and logistical assistance to be provided to local organizations that are fighting every day, with almost nonexistent resources. 

Haiti needs a solid humanitarian response. Neither the State nor the international community can remain silent. Every boy who joins a gang, every girl who is a victim of rape, is a loud cry from hell that we hear.

Do nothing – it is a betrayal of the people.

Act – it is a light for the entire nation.

––Fabienne Lerine

President, Women's Association for the Development of Lafon

(Translated by Michael Dylan Rogers)