sexual violence

Renewed violent clashes involving non-state armed groups have exacerbated the hunger and
protection crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo, leaving 10 million people in urgent
need of humanitarian assistance, warned Oxfam, CARE International and the Danish Refugee
Council today.

More than a million women and girls in Burkina Faso are facing increased sexual violence, hunger and water shortage as a result of the coronavirus pandemic on top of the existing conflict, said Oxfam today.

Hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicines, 11 aid agencies warned today.

Oxfam has spoken to men and women who have spent months being beaten, tied up like animals and sold as cheap labour in Libya’s shocking slave trade. EU member states should ensure that migrants arrive safely in Europe where they can have access to a fair and transparent process for claiming asylum. 

The ongoing conflict with Boko Haram in West Africa has pushed the number of people facing the threat of severe hunger to more than 6 million according to the latest assessments, say 15 humanitarian organizations. 

Regarding the Somalia Conference in London, Oxfam says:

Oxfam strongly condemns the brutal sexual assault and subsequent death of a young woman in Delhi and calls for immediate systemic response to the increasing trend of violence against women in the country.

Coalition forces are not doing enough to prevent abuses by Afghan forces and have been too slow to address the issue as they prepare to hand over responsibility for security, Oxfam and other agencies said today.

Over the last few years Oxfam has been following closely the reform of the UN’s gender equality architecture and most recently, the establishment of UN Women.

Research on sexual violence in DRC is extremely challenging.