Armed gang violence has exploded in Haiti in recent years. Once largely concentrated in Port au Prince, armed gangs have expanded their control across the country, bringing with it violence and insecurity.
The impact on women and girls has been particularly devastating. Some 790,000 women and girls are among nearly 1.47 million people who have been forced to flee their homes. Gang members are using sexual violence as a tactic to terrorize, exploit and extort women and girls, and their communities. Homes and businesses have been burned to the ground, or taken over by the gangs, and more than 1,600 schools have been forced to close. Healthcare and legal services have been decimated – all at a time when the need for them is colossal.
Women are beaten, there is sexual violence against women, and women are dying.
Roselene Pierre is the President of Rassemblement de Femmes Engagées de Ouanaminthe (RFEO), an organization supported by UN Women that provides around the clock assistance to women and children in northeast Haiti. Every day, Pierre sees what women and girls in her community experience: “Women are beaten, there is sexual violence against women, and women are dying”, she says.
RFEO was founded by Pierre and her two close friends almost 20 years ago to respond to these urgent needs. Today the organization’s support is in high demand. Alongside escalating gang violence that has forced families to flee their homes and communities, Haitians returning from the Dominican Republic, just across the border, have faced aggressive deportations. RFEO provides a holistic package of support to deportees and survivors of violence.
“It is a complete package”, explains Pierre. “We welcome them, we register them, we provide temporary shelter, we provide hygiene kits, clothing, underwear, and means of transportation… And then we provide psychological support”.
How aid cuts are hurting women’s organizations responding to Haiti’s gang violence
Beyond addressing immediate needs, RFEO’s support is centred on creating lasting change for women and children. The organization offers family mediation services, community groups for children, and opportunities for women to earn an income. Many people are forced to flee their homes carrying nothing but trauma. Through vocational training and cash assistance, RFEO empowers women to set up their own small businesses, helping them rebuild what the violence stole from them.
Women and girls also bring with them most of the caregiving responsibilities and the household financial burden. This pressure can push women to breaking point.
Emmanuela fled her home in Mirebalais with her grandpa and hundreds of her neighbours. She hid out in the forest for weeks before reaching a displacement site in Fort Liberte, northeast Haiti. She explains what some women are faced with: “Some have children, and when the kids cry, they have to sell their bodies to take care of them.”
How armed gangs in Haiti exploit poverty, displacement, and women and girls
Latest UN Women data show that more than 80 per cent of women living in displacement sites are unemployed. Gangs are exploiting their poverty and displacement and using threats to coerce women and girls into joining, and serving, gangs.
Katiana fled Port-au-Prince last year after gangs took over her neighbourhood and shot and killed her friend and neighbour in front of her. She sought shelter in Ouanaminthe and has since received support from RFEO including psychological support, training and cash assistance.
There are some women who are raped and forced to be the wives of some of these gang leaders… If I was still there, I can’t imagine what could have happened to me
Women-led organizations are helping survivors rebuild their lives and communities
Loudmia, 43, fled Port au Prince last year when the gangs took over her neighbourhood, burned down her home and took everything she had.
“I lost my brother. I lost my cousin. I lost my aunt. And I lost my friends, many people”, says Loudmia “They shot them, set them on fire. They burned their houses.” Loudmia faced severe trauma and sought refuge in Ouanaminthe. She was brought to RFEO by one of her friends who saw her living on the streets with her three children.
She describes the support as lifesaving: “It was because of this friend who brought me to RFEO that today I am here. I am living.” Loudmia takes part in counselling sessions and has received a small cash grant.
“They talk to me about what life is. How I can recover my memories, so that I do not keep the shock in my head all the time, inside myself, so that I do not think about it all the time.” She describes how she feels about Roselene Pierre: “I would consider her a queen. After God, I would consider Madame Roselene from RFEO as a queen”.
Aid cuts are threatening women-led humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts in Haiti
Just as needs are increasing, the support RFEO provides is at risk due to funding cuts that have swept through the aid sector.
RFEO is among many organizations that have been forced to reduce its paid staff, forcing it to reduce the number of women and children the organization can reach. UN Women surveyed women’s organizations in Haiti to understand how aid cuts have impacted their work. 83 per cent report losing staff, and around two-thirds say they were forced to delay or suspend services to support survivors of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, 97 per cent report that their capacity to provide services is lower than the current need, and 1 in 3 expects to suspend operations or close entirely within the next 12 months. Often, already marginalized women, girls and their communities are the hardest hit.
Régine Zéphirin Diègue, founder of the Movement for the Integration and Emancipation of Disabled Women (MIEFH), Haiti’s first organization dedicated to empowering women and girls with disabilities, has been hit hard. In early 2025, MIEFH lost three-quarters of its paid staff due to funding cuts.
By the following week, the entire team returned as unpaid volunteers. This was a testament to their commitment but an unsustainable measure. “If MIEFH’s situation worsens, unfortunately we’ll have to close”, explains Diègue. “I have staff, who for some time now are working pro bono. You can’t ask them to volunteer indefinitely.”
According to Diègue, the escalation of gang violence has increased the risks faced by women and girls with disabilities: “Since 2024, there are so many displaced people, who are staying with friends and family – the people hosting them feel like they have all their rights because they are providing a little food or place to sleep. Sometimes because the other person is asking them for help, it becomes transactional.”
For girls with disabilities, women’s organizations mean the chance to go to school
Philonia is street vendor and single mother raising three children in Cap-Haitien. Her daughter, Marie-Claude, has a learning disability. “She’s 13 years old. She is still in the first grade and can’t move forward. It’s very worrisome for them and me.”
“You can’t choose to keep them out of school based on a disability”, she says. “You have to always support her, so that she feels that she is a part of society too. But you know, in Haiti, it is not so easy. We have to take life as it is.”
Support from MIEFH has eased some of the financial burden and psychological toll, enabling Philonia to earn an income. MIEFH also provided notebooks, pencils, and pens for the children when school began. For Philiona, this assistance means her daughter can stay in school, and she can provide for her family.
Women’s organizations are the lifeblood of the humanitarian response and peacebuilding efforts in Haiti. They are negotiating with armed gangs for humanitarian access, providing support to survivors, ensuring women can earn a living, and mediating with communities to prevent a further escalation of violence. Without them, communities across Haiti would lose a deeply trusted source of support, and in many ways, a lifeline.
What is UN Women doing to support women and girls in Haiti
UN Women is on the ground in Haiti, working with partners including government institutions, United Nations entities and women-led organizations, among others, to provide critical support and lifesaving assistance to women and girls impacted by the worsening humanitarian crisis.
As co-lead of the Network for Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action (REGAH), UN women plays a key role in coordinating and promoting a humanitarian response that meets the specific needs of women and girls across the country. Through our support to women-led organizations we provide psychosocial support to survivors of violence, cash transfers to help women set up small businesses, help families access critical services and necessities such as food, and strengthen protection, participation, prevention and recovery within communities.
The continued investment from the Government of Germany, Government of Japan, Government of Norway, and the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund makes this essential work possible.
