The recruitment of children in Haitian gangs has increased by 70% in the past year, according to a UNICEF report released on Monday.
At present, between 30% and 50% of all gang members in Haiti are children, as reported by the UN.
The Associated Press writes that the increase in child members is related to the worsening of poverty in the country, increasing violence, and political instability.
Gang roles by gender
UNICEF Haiti representative Geeta Narayan has demonstrated concern. Young boys are often used as informers “because they’re invisible and not seen as a threat,” she said in a phone interview.
Meanwhile, young women are forced to cook and clean for gang members. “They’re not doing this voluntarily,” stated Narayan. “Even when they are armed with weapons, the child here is the victim.”
These minors are paid large sums to join gangs, being threatened if they refuse. In Haiti, more than 60% of the population lives on less than $4 per day; when gangs offer children $33 weekly or sometimes thousands of dollars for dangerous operations, it becomes difficult for them to refuse.
Gangs have increasingly been targeting minors who have been deported from the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti.
Additional dangers
Recently established vigilante movements have been finding suspected gang members. UNICEF reported that children “are often viewed with suspicion and risk being branded as spies or even killed by vigilante movements.”
A video was posted last week on social media showing a child’s body beside an adult’s, both slain. Police said that more than 28 suspected gang members were killed, with civilian residents armed with guns or machetes fighting against them.
Recruitment
The UN Security Council report claims that the gangs with the most child recruits are 5 Segond, Brooklyn, Kraze Barye, Grand Ravine, and Terre Noire. New recruits are typically given simple orders at first, then promoted if they kill someone. After a few years in the gang, the recruit becomes part of the entourage as long as they prove that they aren’t a spy.
Recruitment is soaring as schools in Haiti remain closed and children continue to be vulnerable targets. Increased homelessness leaves them even more susceptible to recruitment or abuse, as they live in makeshift shelters rather than proper homes. A Human Rights Watch report published, “Criminal groups in Haiti are subjecting girls and women to horrific sexual abuse. Criminal groups have often used sexual violence to instill fear in rival territories.”
This report described a case where a 14-year-old girl was abducted a repeatedly raped by different men for five days straight while being kept in a house with six other girls receiving the same treatment.
Leaving these gangs
Gangs in Haiti are recruiting children as young as eight years old. The younger these kids start, the more difficult it becomes to rescue them from this lifestyle, experts have said. The reward of violence is harmful to children’s psychosocial development.
Despite this, children sometimes quit gangs in several manners. Some leave by choice, while others escape. At times, nonprofit organizations will find these kids and take them to help centers.
The struggle doesn’t end once they get out, however. Help centers spend time giving these victims medical care as well as psychological assistance. Narayan said, “There is a transition period. It’s not all rosy. It does take time on all sides.”
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
