On January 28, 2026, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) released one of the most disturbing reports to emerge from Haiti in recent years. Based on data from its Pran Men’m Clinic in Port-au-Prince, the organization revealed that since opening in 2015, it has treated nearly 17,000 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence—98 percent of them women and girls.

Even more alarming is the acceleration of abuse. Since 2021, reported cases at the clinic have nearly tripled, rising from an average of 95 cases per month to more than 250 per month in 2025. These figures, MSF warns, represent only a fraction of the true scale of abuse in a country where many victims never seek medical help.

According to the report, armed gangs now use rape as a deliberate tactic of territorial control. Attacks often involve multiple perpetrators, firearms, death threats, and raids on entire neighborhoods. Survivors recount being assaulted in front of family members, abducted during gang incursions, or attacked while fleeing violence.

“This is not random,” said Diana Manilla Arroyo, MSF’s Head of Mission in Haiti. “The explosion of violence has had a direct impact on the bodies of women and girls. Sexual violence is being used systematically to terrorize communities.”

The crisis reflects Haiti’s broader collapse in security. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, armed groups have expanded their control over large parts of Port-au-Prince. Police capacity has eroded, the judiciary is barely functioning, and basic state authority has all but disappeared.