International community condemns sexual violence in Tigray, Ethiopia

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 07:58 am

The act of sexual violence during the war isn’t new, it is perhaps the oldest way of efficient persecution and oppression in war times and it’s anything but an element of genocide. The International community condemns sexual brutality against women and girls in the Tigray region in Ethiopia and urges it to be immediately stopped. 

On 4 November 2020 conflict broke out in Tigray, Ethiopia when PM Abiy Ahmed sent in troops to remove the regional government of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Reports of sexual crimes on a large number of women are viewed as targeted assaults by the Ethiopian army and their Eritrean partners.

Helen Clark a former PM of New Zealand and Zimbabwean writer and 2020 Booker prize winner Tsitsi Dangarembga are among the signatories of two separate letters requesting global action following reports of sexual violence in Tigray. 

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Over 50 ladies of African origin call for a prompt truce and express fear at reports that African ladies and young girls are once again victims of brutality and sexual assault during the conflict. 

In an open letter signed by Clark, former UK development secretary Hilary Benn, Green coalition MP Caroline Lucas and over 60 campaigners have urged the UN Security Council to set up a bench to investigate charges of sexual violence in the northern region of Ethiopia”. 

“Failure by the global community to promptly act on the issue would undo the advancement made so far in eliminating sexual brutality amid war,” states the open letter, whose signatories incorporate more than 30 organizations from Tigray. It will give a free hand to regimes utilizing this barbaric act and would also betray the courageous women of Tigray, the letter stated, The Guardian reported.