Sexual abuse high in northern Uganda
Feb 26, 2007
AT least one out of every two children living in internally displaced people’s camps (IDP) and refugee resettlements in the Great Lakes Region is a victim of sexual abuse, a report by World Vision has revealed.
By Joyce Namutebi
AT least one out of every two children living in internally displaced people’s camps (IDP) and refugee resettlements in the Great Lakes Region is a victim of sexual abuse, a report by World Vision has revealed.
According to a document launched at Hotel Africana, Kampala, yesterday, the most common forms of sexual abuses are stroking the victim’s breasts, buttocks and sexual parts and kissing.
The victims are forced into having sex in exchange for basic needs.
The report, titled “Their future is in our hands. Children displaced by conflicts in Africa’s Great Lakes Regionâ€, was launched by the Minister of Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere.
The study was carried out in Kiyage IDP camp in Burundi, camps in Oicha and Eringeti in the DR Congo, Coope and Pagak camps in northern Uganda, Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda and Lugufu 1 and Lugufu 11 refugee camps in Tanzania.
Gihembe was the biggest culprit as far as touching of breasts, buttocks and sexual parts was concerned, while Coope and Pagak recorded the lowest percentage.
It report noted that 95 out of 469 sexual gender-based violence cases reported at Gulu Central Police Station in 2004 were defilement.
It revealed that girls in Gulu camps live under duress and threat from army men and are also forced into relationships with them.
“Army men find us at the borehole and they say, ‘I will shoot you if you don’t accept me,†the report quoted one of the victims as saying.
World Vision’s Vat Kamatsiko, the author of the report, explained that the perpetrators of child sexual abuse were mainly people whom the children trusted and closely interacted with.
The report identified other problems faced by children as limited access to basic health care services, education, lack of enough food and child labour.
Kabwegyere reiterated that displaced people must return to their homes. He accused some NGOs and Ugandans in the Diaspora of fuelling the war in the north.
AT least one out of every two children living in internally displaced people’s camps (IDP) and refugee resettlements in the Great Lakes Region is a victim of sexual abuse, a report by World Vision has revealed.
According to a document launched at Hotel Africana, Kampala, yesterday, the most common forms of sexual abuses are stroking the victim’s breasts, buttocks and sexual parts and kissing.
The victims are forced into having sex in exchange for basic needs.
The report, titled “Their future is in our hands. Children displaced by conflicts in Africa’s Great Lakes Regionâ€, was launched by the Minister of Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere.
The study was carried out in Kiyage IDP camp in Burundi, camps in Oicha and Eringeti in the DR Congo, Coope and Pagak camps in northern Uganda, Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda and Lugufu 1 and Lugufu 11 refugee camps in Tanzania.
Gihembe was the biggest culprit as far as touching of breasts, buttocks and sexual parts was concerned, while Coope and Pagak recorded the lowest percentage.
It report noted that 95 out of 469 sexual gender-based violence cases reported at Gulu Central Police Station in 2004 were defilement.
It revealed that girls in Gulu camps live under duress and threat from army men and are also forced into relationships with them.
“Army men find us at the borehole and they say, ‘I will shoot you if you don’t accept me,†the report quoted one of the victims as saying.
World Vision’s Vat Kamatsiko, the author of the report, explained that the perpetrators of child sexual abuse were mainly people whom the children trusted and closely interacted with.
The report identified other problems faced by children as limited access to basic health care services, education, lack of enough food and child labour.
Kabwegyere reiterated that displaced people must return to their homes. He accused some NGOs and Ugandans in the Diaspora of fuelling the war in the north.