NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – UN Special Representative on Conflicting Sexual Violence says “serious allegations of sexual violence” have emerged in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, while women and girls are they face shortages of rape kits and HIV drugs amid humanitarian access restrictions.
“There are also disturbing reports of people allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under imminent threats of violence,” Pramila Patten said in a statement released Thursday at the end. “Some women have also been forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for commodities, while medical centers have indicated an increase in demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections.”
Patten joined the growing calls for immediate and unconditional access to the Tigray region, where in early November fighting broke out between Ethiopian forces and those of the now fugitive Tigray leaders who dominated the country’s government.
A spokeswoman for Patten’s office would not say what “military elements” were involved. Tigray’s fighters include those from the neighboring region of Amhara and other parts of Ethiopia, as well as soldiers from neighboring Eritrea.
Newcomers to refugee camps and internally displaced people denounce sexual violence and “there are growing reports of sexual violence against women and girls” within the camps, according to Patten’s statement.
The Ethiopian government says aid has begun to flow into the Tigray region and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said on Friday that 85% of all Tigray humanitarian aid corridors are already open. He was speaking with visiting British Secretary of State Dominic Raab.
But aid workers have told The Associated Press that access remains limited. In addition, aid is sometimes accompanied by Ethiopian forces.
“We are horrified 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 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 altered by the rapes committed against them.”