"Sexual Misconduct International NGO in Haiti"

Since the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, IOM has been actively addressing sexual violence perpetrated against women and children in displaced camps. Immediately after the earthquake, available data from health facilities, police, plus national and international organizations indicated a rise in the number of reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence in the country (SGBV). This can be partly explained to a growing trust between the survivors and the police and service providers as the need for services increased.
IOM was involved from the start assisting 60 people affected by SGBV, with women and girls accounting for 97 percent and men making up the remaining 3 percent. Besides providing medical services for victims, IOM also interviewed SGBV survivors. During the first year after the earthquake, IOM identified closes to 400 cases of trafficked children enduring extreme poverty while living in displacement camps, with close to 50 percent of them suffering physical and sexual abuse before they were actually rescued.
More cases were discovered in the worst poverty-stricken areas of Port-au-Prince and in the surrounding provinces where many victims of the earthquake fled. IOM identified and rescued 30 trafficked Haitian children from neighboring Dominican Republic.
In an attempt to lessen the vulnerability of women and girls plus children trapped in trafficking from becoming victims of SGBV in the camps, IOM used $1 million in funding from the Swedish International Development Agency ( SIDA ) to respond and stop SGBV in 20 priority displacement sites spread across Port-au-Prince’s seven communes.
To help reduce the risk of attack, IOM installed solar lights in busy public areas such as entrances, water and sanitation facilities and community spaces. Young Haitian women were presented with skills training programs with a goal of being more self-sufficient and less vulnerable to becoming a victim.
In an effort to increase protection for victims of trafficking, IOM received $US 1.6 in funding from the US government’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and UNICEF which provided assistance for 1,000 people.
It came to the realization of IOM that the earthquake actually exacerbated pre-existing abuses taking place in Haiti, and it was critically important to work with local partners to prevent another generation of women and girls from becoming victimized.
Sexual exploitation can also take place with foreign aid workers coming into Haiti to provide relief work on behalf of non-profit organizations. The recent case in July 2018 of a Virginia man sentenced to 23 years of prison for traveling to Haiti and engaging in illicit sexual misconduct highlights the extreme necessity of the Haitian Government to register all International predators and monitor their possible entrance into the country. All sex predators must be registered as the Haitian Government must collect data from International agencies.