McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Hundreds of asylum-seekers have been sexually assaulted and violated while trying to cross the treacherous Darién Gap jungle of Panama while en route from Colombia to the Southwest border, according to a new report by Doctors Without Borders.

The nonprofit, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reports treating nearly 400 victims of sexual violence so far this year in the Darién Gap — a 60-mile stretch of mountainous jungle linking Colombia in South America to Central America. 

Many victims are children, and some are assaulted in “rape tents,” the agency said Tuesday.

In October, Doctors Without Borders reported assisting 107 victims of sexual abuse, including 59 in one week. Three of the rape victims were ages 11, 12 and 16, the organization said.

The group is asking governments in the region to ensure there is enough law enforcement to prevent sexual violence against migrants in the Darién. This comes after U.S. officials along with those of Colombia and Panama in April announced a campaign to slow migration through the Darién Gap.

It has not, however, and agencies like Doctors Without Borders report an increase in asylum-seekers, as well as victims passing through the dangerous region.

“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,” MSF medical coordinator Carmenza Gálvez said. “It can expose them to HIV infection, with the consequent risk of infecting others. It 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, and it increases the risk of facing sexual violence in the future.”

Part of the violence in the Darién Gap includes armed bandits who kidnap and rob asylum-seeking migrants. Then others beat them when they do not produce money, and many times victims are raped.

MSF says rape tents are “set up for that purpose.”

“They beat me on my legs with a bat, because those of us who had no money were beaten,” a victim from Venezuela is quoted by MSF. “Those who said they didn’t have any money, but when searched were found to have some, were hurt even more. They said, ‘Oh yes, she has some money,’ and they raped them. I saw many people raped. I saw them left naked and beaten. 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.” 

Men who try to protect victims often are injured and some sexually assaulted.

“Some young men were also beaten and thrown onto the ground for trying to defend the women,” said the Venezuelan woman whose identity MSF is withholding for her protection. “They killed a boy in front of us with a shot to the forehead.”

“They say it is their land, that you have to respect it, and that whoever passes through there must pay. And if you pay or don’t pay, they do it anyway. They’ll abuse whoever they want. They have even raped men,” she said.

Gálvez says sexual assault victims also are stigmatized by communities, other migrants and even their families.

“Not all people who experience sexual violence receive timely attention due to the stigma against victims surrounding this form of violence, threats from perpetrators, lack of recognition of forms of sexual violence, and the fact that people do not feel safe asking for help,” Gálvez said. “In addition, there is the fear that reporting the crimes may delay their journey north.”

MSF has set up free medical care facilities in the small villages of Lajas Blancas, and San Vicente, Panam, where two migrant reception centers have been set up by the Panamanian government on the edge of the Darién jungle. They also help migrants who have reached the small community of Bajo Chiquito located in southern Panama in Darién National Park.

The organization says it has given 51,500 medical consultations; 2,400 mental health consultations; treated 17,400 wounds and 397 cases of sexual violence so far in 2023.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.