(2026-03) Displacement, Gendered Harm, and the Normalization of Crisis in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Summary — A Mercy Corps Crisis Analysis Team study of protection conditions in five IDP camp sites in Port-au-Prince, based on 114 structured surveys of displaced women and 20 key informant interviews. It finds the sites function as risk environments rather than protective spaces: 95.6 percent of respondents feel unsafe, 30.7 percent of women report physical or sexual violence inside the site, 99.1 percent have no income, and food deprivation is near-universal.
Key Findings
- IDP sites in Port-au-Prince function as risk environments rather than protective spaces: 95.6 percent of surveyed women feel their site is insecure.
- 7 percent of women report physical or sexual violence inside the site, 19 respondents report sexual assault or rape by gangs, and 66.7 percent say no reporting mechanism exists.
- Livelihood collapse is near-total: 88.6 percent had income before displacement versus 99.1 percent with none now, while women heading households rose from 45.6 to 93 percent.
- Deprivation is extreme: 96.5 percent of women and 87.5 percent of children eat fewer than two meals a day, only 45.6 percent have a functioning toilet, 63.2 percent lack menstrual hygiene products, and only 34.2 percent of children attend school.
- GBV is driven by survival economics and failed site governance, so cash, food, WASH upgrades, and child services should be designed as protection interventions and donor focus on Port-au-Prince sustained.
Full Description
With Haiti's internal displacement at a record 1.4 million people in 2025 and displaced children nearly doubling to 680,000, this Mercy Corps Crisis Analysis Team (CAT HT) report examines conditions inside five IDP sites in Port-au-Prince (Club International, République Équateur, OPC, DDO, Kay Felix; combined population 9,145, about 5.6 percent of the capital's 163,811 IDPs). Mixed methods combine 114 structured surveys of displaced women with 20 key informant interviews. The findings show sites operating as active producers of protection risk: 95.6 percent of respondents feel their site is insecure; 30.7 percent of women report physical or sexual violence within the site and 19 respondents report sexual assault or rape by gangs; two thirds (66.7 percent) report no mechanism for reporting violence. Livelihood collapse is near-total (88.6 percent had income before displacement, 99.1 percent have none now) while household headship among women rose from 45.6 to 93 percent. Food deprivation is near-universal (96.5 percent of women and 87.5 percent of children eat fewer than two meals a day), only 45.6 percent have access to a functioning toilet, 63.2 percent cannot obtain menstrual hygiene products, and only 34.2 percent of children attend school. The report argues GBV is driven by survival economics and site-governance failure, that cash and food support should be treated as protection interventions, and that donor attention must not drift from Port-au-Prince as violence spreads to other departments.