UN special rapporteurs have expressed concerns that women and girls displaced by war are being abducted in Ethiopia, putting them at further risk of sexual exploitation and slavery, the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2022) UN special rapporteurs have expressed concerns that women and girls displaced by war are being abducted in Ethiopia, putting them at further risk of sexual exploitation and slavery, the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Monday.
"We are alarmed by reports of refugee and internally displaced women and girls in the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions being abducted while attempting to move to safer places," the experts said. "We are concerned at the risks of trafficking, in particular for purposes of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery."
The rapporteurs stated that hundreds of children have been separated from their families in the Tigray region, and are particularly vulnerable. Armed conflict has been ongoing since November 2020 in the region, on Ethiopia's northern border with Eritrea.
The special rapporteurs are independent experts within the UN's human rights' system, but they are not employees.
They are calling for urgent action to prevent trafficking, especially for purposes of sexual exploitation, and to ensure assistance and protection of all victims, and say they have been engaging with the authorities of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
