At least 676 sexual assaults on Darien Gap migrants last year

Doctors Without Borders treated 676  survivors of sexual violence in the Darien Gap – the inhospitable jungle between Panama – and Colombia last year.

December, paradoxically, marked a high point in cases of sexual violence, despite being one of the months with the lowest flow of migrants.

The NGO stated that in December, on average, one act of sexual violence occurred every three and a half hours in the Darién jungle. In total, that month there were 214 cases of care for victims by the Doctors Without Borders team.

Carmenza Gálvez,  medical coordinator of the NGO in Colombia and Panama, warns that this is a situation that could be stopped: “Every month we register a greater number of cases. This is outrageous. We demand effective actions by governments to guarantee the safety and dignity of migrants in the Darién jungle. “No one should face this or any form of violence for migrating.”

When compared to the previous year, the increase in cases treated was 191.3%. In 2022 there were 232 and in 2023, the number was 676.

the statistics referred to by the NGO are the cases treated by its health personnel, but it does not necessarily mean that it is the total number of cases that have occurred in the jungle area since not all migrants want to talk about the issue.

Case statistics 
The migrants’ complaints agree that armed criminals are holding them in the jungle, forcing them to strip naked and committing all kinds of humiliations. Most of these violent acts are against women, but the NGO has also received reports from men and children.

In addition to sexual violence, migrants report that they are victims of robberies, attacks, and kidnappings. “Our medical and social support team is strengthening the identification mechanism for survivors of sexual violence, but one of our biggest concerns is under-registration since once this type of case occurs, people must seek care within 72 hours to avoid the spread of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies,” says Gálvez.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2023, more than 520,000 thousand people crossed the Darién Gap. This is an unprecedented number, as it far exceeds the total number of migrants who used Darién to reach the United States in 2022, when there were 248,000, and in 2021 when the figure was 133,000.