Eighty-one percent of Uganda’s over 1.4 million refugees are women and children who are sexually exploited, a new report has shown.

These are at a high risk of gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, rape, forced and child marriage and intimate partner violence, according to a World Bank assessment in 11 of Uganda’s 15 refugee hosting districts.

The findings are justified by the 2018 National Violence Against Children Survey, which established that one in four girls and one in 10 boys reported having experienced sexual violence in the 12 months prior.

The most common causes of violence against women and children in hosting and refugee communities include poverty, substance abuse, discriminatory gender roles and widespread acceptance of violence, which are reinforced by social norms.

Physical violence is a widely accepted form of ‘disciplining’ women and children, the report adds.

The assessment was conducted by the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project in co-ordination with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

It maps existing response and prevention services for violence against women and children and provides recommendations on how to link, integrate and align services offered by humanitarian and development partners into national and local systems.

Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project provides access to basic social services, expands economic opportunities, and enhances environmental management targeted at both refugees and host communities.

UNHCR recorded 4,297 cases of gender-based violence in refugee settlements between January and November last year Uganda currently hosts the third largest refugee population in the world, and largest in Africa.

In May, the country was hosting about 1.4 million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly in the West Nile, northern and western parts of the country.

Most of these refugees are from South Sudan and DR Congo. Women and children comprise 82% of Uganda’s overall refugee population, about 56% of them are below the age of 15, and 25% are younger than five years of age.

Host communities face similar challenges. Compared with a national average of 51%, the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey showed that 64% of women aged 15-49 in the host communities of West Nile sub-region report having experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence perpetrated by their current or most recent spouse or partner.

In his remarks during the launch, the director of Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project, Dr Robert Limlim, said the report has created the sense of awareness among the stakeholders on the question of violence against children and women in the violent sphere.