Violence Against Women
Source: PeaceWomen
A United Nations envoy on Thursday expressed her concern about reports of sexual violence against women and girls who are attempting to flee famine-stricken Somalia.
UN Special Representative to Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallström, said in a statement on Thursday that she is concerned over reports that women and girls fleeing famine in Somalia were being raped or abducted and forced into marriage by bandits and other armed groups as they tried to reach refugee camps in Kenya.
"Once they cross the Somalia-Kenya border or reach Dadaab - the world's largest refugee settlement - their hopes of finding a safe haven are often overshadowed by new dangers and hardships, including the risk of rape," said Wallström.
Wallström said that the UN office has also received alarming information about alleged rapes by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and allied militias in south-central Somalia. In addition, her office has heard that Al-Shabaab militants, who are fighting to overthrow the government of Somalia, were abducting girls for forced marriage to fighters.
"I call on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease these gross violations of human rights," Wallström stressed. She commended the Kenyan authorities for the efforts to respond to the influx of tens of thousands of Somali refugees and urged the donor community to increase support to the Kenyan Government, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) responding to the crisis.
"There is an urgent need for services to be provided to survivors of sexual violence and for effective camp management to minimize the risks facing women and girls. We should also improve monitoring and reporting on sexual violence to better inform our actions," pledged Wallström.
According to humanitarian agencies, an estimated 3.7 million people, nearly half of them from Somalia, are directly at risk of famine and tens of thousands have already perished, with 13 children out of every 10,000 under the age of five dying every day from malnutrition and famine-related diseases.
According to the UN, the drought which is causing the famine in the Eastern Horn of Africa is expected to continue until early 2012, and the number of people in acute livelihood crisis is expected to increase from 8.8 million in the coming months.