Together, women and children make up just under half of the people who cross the Darién Gap, the only land strip that connects South America to Central America and which has become the epicenter of the migration crisis in the Americas. However, they are invariably the preferred victims of sexual crimes in the so-called "jungle of death."

And this type of violation is escalating. A report by the NGO Doctors Without Borders published this Friday (17th) states that the number of cases of sexual violence in Darién reported to the organization has increased significantly this year, which also marks a record number of crossings in the 160 km long forest.

From January to November, MSF assisted 397 survivors of sexual violence, many of them children, who crossed the jungle that divides Colombia and Panama. But in just one month, October, almost 27% of these cases (107) occurred. And, in just one week, there were 59 treatments—three of the victims were 11, 12, and 16 years old.

Women make up 95% of the sexual abuse survivors who seek help from the organization. And the numbers, according to MSF itself, are "significantly underreported," as stigma and fear of speaking out about the issue prevent migrants from seeking help as they cross the jungle and arrive by water and land in southern Panama.