Disclaimer: This is an English translation of an Amharic article taken from DW Amharic and is intended solely for information purposes.
DW Amharic – Gender-based attacks against women in the Jara refugees’ shelter
Friday, December 6, 2024 (Hedar 27, 2017 E.C.)
Incidences of sexual assault against women on the rise in Jara refugees’ shelter in North Wollo Zone of Amhara Region. Over the past two months 12 attacks have been recorded but the true rate of attacks could be greater.
Refugees say life in the Jara refugees’ shelter is difficult as the shelter lacks necessary provisions and humanitarian relief is not provided on a timely basis. Since last October, unknown militants have been carrying out sexual assaults in the refugee center according to the center’s women’s representative Woizero Marae Alene. Woizero Marae says the attacks have not discriminated based on age and health status, with some victims facing life threatening conditions.
One victim of the attacks whose name was withheld for their security told Deutsche Welle the perpetrators covered their faces using a mask and were carrying firearms. At this time, women in Jara refugees’ shelter currently do not have any protection and are in fear of further attacks.
The shelter does not have a fence and its security is not guarded, and previously over seven people were killed by unknown militants according to a refugee representative named Ato Tsedalu Abera.
How did the North Wollo Zone’s Women and Children’s Social Affairs Division have to say?
They reported an increase in sexual assaults in the zone but stated that law enforcement measures and accountability against perpetrators was difficult under current circumstances given the ongoing armed conflict in the area, said Woizero Imebet Dessale, head of the North Wollo Zone Women and Children’s Social Affairs Division. Women at the Jara shelter often venture outside the area in nearby forests to gather wood for cooking, at which time they encounter attacks however until now there has been no source of protection for them.
There is a significant lack of lawful measures for stopping attacks on women
The North Wollo Zone Women and Children’s Social Affairs Division head Woizero Imebet Dessale said there is a significant gap in lawful measures to stop the attacks on women, and added there is a circumstance in which perpetrators are released on bail and leave the country.
The Amhara Region Women and Children’s Social Affairs Bureau on its end stated it had no knowledge of sexual assaults on women in the Jara refugees’ shelter.
The bureau’s organization for the awareness of the women’s movement Director Woizero Desta Fentaw said they were aware that there were numerous unfulfilled provisions for women in the Jara refugees’ shelter but that they received no information of sexual assaults.
Isayas Gelaw
Shewaye Legesse
Azeb Tadesse
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