News Agency
\nADDIS ABABA
\nThe UN says it has received \u201cdisturbing\u201d reports of sexual violence and abuse in Ethiopia\u2019s conflict-hit Tigray region, including of individuals forced to rape members of their own family.
\nPramila Patten, the UN\u2019s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said she was greatly concerned by serious allegations from the northern region, including \u201ca high number of alleged rapes\u201d in the Tigrayan capital Mekele.
\n\u201cThere are also disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of imminent violence,\u201d Patten said in a statement Thursday.
\n\u201cSome women have also reportedly been forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for basic commodities.\u201d
\nEthiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, announced military operations in Tigray in early November, saying they came in response to attacks by the regional ruling party on federal army camps.
\nAbiy declared victory after federal forces entered the regional capital in late November, though leaders of the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF) remain on the run and have vowed to fight on.
\nThousands have died in the conflict, according to the International Crisis Group, though a communications blackout and media and humanitarian access restrictions have made it difficult to assess the situation on the ground.
\nIn her statement Thursday, Patten noted that \u201cmedical centers have indicated an increase in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which is often an indicator of sexual violence in conflict.\u201d
\nShe called for full humanitarian access to Tigray, including camps for displaced people \u201cand refugee camps where new arrivals have allegedly reported cases of sexual violence.\u201d
\nShe voiced concern about \u201cmore than 5,000 Eritrean refugees in and around the area of Shire living in dire conditions, many of them reportedly sleeping in an open field with no water or food, as well as the more than 59,000 Ethiopians who have fled the country into neighboring Sudan.\u201d
\nThe caretaker administration in Tigray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nEarlier this month state television broadcast footage of a meeting during which an unidentified man in a military uniform expressed concern about rapes in Mekele.
\n\u201cWhy are women being raped in Mekele city?\u201d the man said.
\n\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be shocking had it been happening during the war, because it is not manageable so it could be expected. But at this moment while federal police and local police are back in town, it is still happening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Agency ADDIS ABABA The UN says it has received \u201cdisturbing\u201d reports of sexual violence and abuse in Ethiopia\u2019s conflict-hit Tigray region, including of individuals forced to rape members of their own family. Pramila Patten, the UN\u2019s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said she was greatly concerned by serious allegations from the northern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n