A rape survivor breaks down in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, 21 October 2024. Many rape victims were left with long-term injuries. Photograph: Fred Harter/AP
Hundreds of health workers across Tigray have documented mass rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and sexual torture of women and children by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, in systematic attacks that amount to crimes against humanity, a new report has found.
The research, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), represents the most comprehensive documentation yet of weaponised sexual violence in Tigray. It reviewed medical records of more than 500 patients, surveys of 600 health workers, and in-depth interviews with doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and community leaders.
The authors outline evidence of systematic attacks designed to destroy the fertility of Tigrayan women and call for international bodies to investigate the crime of genocide. Read more…