NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict says ‘serious allegations of sexual violence’ have emerged in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, while women and girls have shortages of rape packages and HIV drugs too. amid restrictions on humanitarian access.
“There are also disturbing reports of individuals being allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of threatening violence,” Pramila Patten said in a statement released late Thursday. “According to some women, military elements have also been forced to have sex in exchange for basic products, while medical centers have indicated an increase in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections.”
Patten joined growing calls for immediate and unconditional access to the Tigray region, where fighting broke out in early November between Ethiopian forces and those of the now-fleeing Tigray leaders who once dominated the country’s government.
A spokesman for Patten’s office declined to say what “military elements” were involved. The fighters in Tigray include those from the neighboring Amhara region and other parts of Ethiopia, as well as soldiers from neighboring Eritrea.
New arrivals in refugee and displaced persons camps report sexual violence, and “there are increasing reports of sexual violence against women and girls” in the camps, Patten said in a statement.
The Ethiopian government says aid has begun to flow to the Tigray region, and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said on Friday that 85% of all humanitarian aid corridors in Tigray are now open. He spoke to the visiting British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab.
But humanitarian workers told The Associated Press that access remained limited. In addition, aid is sometimes accompanied by Ethiopian forces.
“We are appalled by the reports and allegations we have received of sexual violence during the conflict in Tigray,” UN humanitarian chief for East and Southern Africa Gemma Connell said in a separate statement on Friday.
“The survivors of these alleged attacks should not be seen as statistics, but as individual women and girls whose lives have been profoundly changed by the offenses against them.”