More than 120,000 women were sexually abused during the war in the Ethiopian province of Tigray between 2020 and 2022. Despite efforts from NGOs, healthcare professionals, and lawyers, many victims are left to fend for themselves.
Mihret is being treated at the One-Stop Center in Adigrat after being raped twice. (Photo by Augustine Passilly)
Mihret* wipes her tears on her white shawl, a traditional fabric worn by Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church followers: “It was two months ago. Eight Eritrean soldiers came into my house while a woman in uniform stood guard at the door. They told me that Tigrayans shouldn't live and that, as a Tigrayan, I shouldn't have children. They then raped me in front of my five children.” The 40-year-old sought help in one of the seven emergency clinics opened in Adigrat, a northern Ethiopian city, to care for and counsel victims of sexual violence.
Despite the official end of the war in Tigray in 2022, every day, the One-Stop Center receives new victims, adding to the more than 120,000 rape cases recorded by local authorities since the conflict began in 2020. Eritrean troops, who supported the central government in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian army, and their allies, the militias from Amhara, the neighboring region, are all accused of participating in this widespread sexual violence.
The full article here.
https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-po ... -in-tigray
