Migrant Children Sexually Abused In ‘Rape Tents’ In Deadly Darien Gap

Hundreds of migrant children have been sexually assaulted and raped while trekking through the deadly Darien Gap, a geographic region in the Isthmus of Panama. 

Hundreds of migrants were raped and sexually abused in so-called “rape tents” while going through the Darien Gap jungle in Panama on their way to the United States’ southern border, according to a report by Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders — a nonprofit also known as Médecins Sans Frontières — said in a report that a number of migrant children were abused in so-called “rape tents.” The members of Doctors Without Borders treated nearly 400 victims of sexual assault in the Darien Gap so far this year. Some rape victims were were just 11, 12 and 16 years old. 

Migrant children sexually abused in ‘rape tents’ in Darien Gap

According to Doctors Without Borders report, armed brigands kidnapped, robbed and raped migrants who were trying to pass through the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle at the Colombia-Panama border.

A Venezuelan migrant woman told Doctors Without Borders, “They beat me on my legs with a bat, because those of us who had no money were beaten. They said, ‘Oh yes, she has some money,’ and they raped them. I saw many people raped. I saw them left naked and beaten.”

While crossing the Darien Gap, migrants faced abuse, torture, and violence. A migrant women said, “One, two, or three of them grab you and rape you, and then the next one comes and rapes you again, and if you scream, they beat you.”

Last month, the members of Doctors Without Borders helped 107 victims of sexual abuse. Border Report said, “Sexual violence has consequences for people’s physical and psychological health, such as sexually transmitted infections that can affect women’s fertility if not treated in time.”

Plight of migrants crossing Darien Gap

According to Human Rights Watch, migrant women have been reporting sexual violence in the Darien Gap since April 2021. Migrants, including women and children, have often faced extortion, human trafficking, rape, abuse, sexual assault, and other violent criminal activities. 

Human Rights Watch also published a 62-page report titled, “‘This Hell Was My Only Option’: Abuses Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers Pushed to Cross the Darién Gap,” to report serious abuses and torture against migrant women and children.

A migrant woman revealed that an armed man shoved her against a tree and sexually assaulted her. They were robbed, sexually abused, and at times raped.

Carmenza Gálvez, Doctors Without Borders’ medical coordinator, said, “Rape can cause physical trauma, unwanted pregnancies, social isolation, feelings of guilt, recurrent thoughts about the events experienced, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, insomnia, and the risk of substance abuse.”

A migrant woman said, “They have even raped men.” Doctors Without Border said that the “rape tents” were set up for that purpose.