South Sudanese Attackers raped, beat and robbed more than 100 women and girls in northern part of the country over a 10-day period in November according to a report by aid agency Doctors without Borders (MSF).
South Sudan, the world’s newest country, has been entangled in civil conflict since 2013, with its civilian population paying a heavy price.
South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, signed a peace agreement with rebellious leaders in September but it remains unclear if the treaty will hold.
The unrest has driven nearly 4 million people from their homes, according to UN figures, with hunger and violence widespread.
“Women and young girls have been coming to the MSF clinic in Bentiu en masse over the past week after surviving horrific episodes of sexual violence,” Ruth Okello, an MSF midwife in South Sudan, was quoted as saying in an MSF statement Friday.
“Some are girls under 10 years old and others are women older than 65. Even expectant women have not been spared from these brutal attacks.” said Okello.
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MSF said its teams had delivered emergency medical care and other assistance to 125 women in Rubkona County in the 10 days from 19 to 29 November 2018.
“In more than three years of working in South Sudan, I have never seen such a dramatic increase in survivors of sexual violence arriving at our programs looking for medical care,” said Okello.
“We treated 104 sexual and gender-based violence survivors in the first 10 months of this year, and we have assisted 125 survivors in the past week alone.” She added on
In addition to being raped, the women had been flogged and beaten according to the aid agency report. The attackers also stole their clothing, shoes and anything of value. They also destroyed ration cards needed for food aid.