Rape rampant in largest northern IDP camp

At least 60 percent of women in the largest camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in war-torn northern Uganda have encountered some form of sexual and domestic violence, a new survey has revealed. The report, titled "Suffering in Silence", was based on the findings of a joint government and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) nine-month study in Pabbo camp in Gulu District, about 380 km north of Uganda's capital, Kampala. "Research revealed that six out of ten women in Pabbo Camp are physically and sexually assaulted, threatened and humiliated by men," UNICEF and the government said in the report. "UNICEF is very concerned that victims were mainly girls, some as young as four years old," Martin Mogwanja, UNICEF's representative in Uganda, said at the launch of the report in Gulu on Wednesday. The 33-page study of sexual and gender based violence showed that rape and other forms of sexual and domestic violence were rampant in Pabbo, which is home to more than 64,000 IDPs. Researcher Isabella Amony said survivors of sexual assaults were often deemed "losers deserving of abuse" by fellow camp residents. As a result, many victims kept silent or reported a lesser offence. "Many of the people reported rape as simple assault because of the stigmatisation attached to rape," she told reporters. Amony added that many women and girls were unaware that such attacks were crimes. Despite the high incidence of abuse the researchers found, police records cite only five cases of rape, 78 cases of defilement and 78 cases of domestic assault between April and August 2004. The researchers said the findings were only "a snapshot of the situation in northern Uganda." There are about 180 IDP camps in the region, which house an estimated 1.4 million people fleeing the 19-year war between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. The study found that the "actual incidence of sexually inappropriate behaviour is estimated to be much higher than the cases reported". It noted that between April and August 2004, the medical unit at Pabbo camp handled 18 abortions involving girls aged between 12 and 17 years. Of the 80 babies born during the same period, 49 were registered to girls below the age of 18. Most victims were mistrustful of authorities and lacked confidence in law enforcement. Alcohol abuse, idleness, poverty and cultural practises such as wife inheritance are some of the factors contributing to sexual and gender based violence in Pabbo, the research indicated. Poor living standards also made young girls turn to prostitution to survive. Mogwanja said as a result of the study, UNICEF and its partners would expand their priorities and work to facilitate the reporting of sexual and gender based violence in Pabbo, improve response and referral systems of police and health staff and implement the district-wide use of an interagency guide on responding to sexual crimes. He said: "Tackling sexual and gender based violence - particularly against children - means knowing when a child is being subjected to violence and knowing how to respond so that the child will have a reliable system of help to turn to. "Whether it is in Pabbo or anywhere else, everyone must be at the frontline of this effort - camp leaders, health workers, teachers, counsellors, the police, district local governments, religious leaders and community groups, NGOs and the UN," he said. "All these duty-bearers must fulfil their responsibilities to children," he added.