NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – The UN special representative on conflict sexual violence says “serious allegations of sexual violence” have emerged in the Tigray region of Ethiopia as women and girls face a shortage of HIV rape kits and drugs in through restrictions on humanitarian access.
“There are also disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own families, under threats of imminent violence,” said Pramila Patten in a statement released Thursday night. “Some women were also forced by the military to have sex in exchange for basic products, while medical centers indicated an increase in demand for emergency contraception and tests 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 fugitive Tigray leaders who once dominated the country’s government.
A spokeswoman for Patten’s office did not say which “military elements” were involved. Fighters in Tigray include those from neighboring Amhara and other parts of Ethiopia, as well as soldiers from neighboring Eritrea.
Newcomers to refugee camps and internally displaced persons are reporting sexual violence and “there are more and more reports of sexual violence against women and girls” within the camps, said Patten.
The Ethiopian government said aid began to flow into the Tigray region, and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said on Friday that 85% of all humanitarian aid corridors in Tigray are open. He was talking to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
But aid workers 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 received of sexual violence during the conflict in Tigray,” said UN humanitarian chief for East and Southern Africa, Gemma Connell, 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 altered by the violations committed against them.”