PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A new Amnesty International report condemns rampant sexual violence against Haitian girls and says it often goes unpunished.
The document says most of the 238 rapes reported between January 2007 and June 2008 involved girls under age 18. Some were infants.
The London-based human rights group says girls who are raped are shunned by society and encouraged or threatened into not identifying attackers.
It says armed gangs used rape to intimidate. It does not comment on the effects of U.N. peacekeeper efforts to combat gangs over the same period.
The report released Thursday criticizes a weak justice system it says fails to protect women. A police unit in charge of protecting minors nationwide has 12 officers and no vehicles.
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