HRW upset about sexual abuse of Ivorian refugees
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been giving WADR details of how dozens of Ivorian refugee women and girls in camps in eastern Liberia have had to engage in sex recently to get adequate food, shelter, or money, after it issued a shocking report recently.
Despite fears and concerns that after months of bloody unrest, the healing process in Ivory Coast might face serious challenges along the way, at least there’s hope that a new dawn of reconciliation and nation-building lies ahead.
Over the past few weeks, calm has gradually been returning to most parts of the country, as the new administration of President Alassane Ouattara is slowly strengthening its authority and grip on national institutions.
But while Ivorians at home are rebuilding their shattered lives, the horrors and struggles of some of their compatriots who fled to neighbouring countries are far from over.
In the absence of adequate humanitarian supplies, the rights group says young refugee girls as young as thirteen are sometimes coerced into what it calls ‘survival sex’. Liberia currently has over 120,000 Ivorian refugees.
Matt Wells is a Senior West Africa Researcher for Human Rights Watch, and he earlier gave WADR’s Sheriff Bojan, Jr details of the survival sex.
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