Children's bodies a 'battleground' in Haiti as sexual violence surges, UNICEF warns

FILE PHOTO: Haitian soldiers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport following a gunfight with armed gangs on the surroundings of the airport, as the government declared state of emergency amid violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - Sexual violence against children in Haiti has surged in the last year and their bodies have been turned into "battlegrounds," UNICEF warned on Friday.

Describing the increase between 2023-2024 as "staggering," the spokesperson for the United Nations agency for children, James Elder, told reporters at the Palais des Nations in Geneva that armed groups have inflicted "unimaginable horrors on children" in the Caribbean country.