Tigray conflict: the "One stop" center fights against sexual violence [4/5]
Audio 02:31
Photo taken in the One Stop health center, which deals exclusively with women victims of sexual abuse.
Almost unique in Tigray.
Located in Mekele, capital of the Ethiopian region of Tigray, within the Ayder Referral Hospital.
May 2021. © RFI / Sébastien Németh
By: Sébastien Nemeth Follow
6 mins
In Ethiopia, the conflict in the north of the country has been going on since November.
At the end of three weeks, the federal power had proclaimed victory, but the fighting continued.
The war has claimed thousands of lives.
But rapes are also very numerous.
Report in one of the only centers in Tigray handling cases of sexual violence.
The One stop center, in Mekele, the regional capital.
Publicity
Azadamara talks to One Stop employees. A 45-year-old farmer, she was cooking at home when three Federal Army soldiers attacked her a month ago. Sobs in her throat, she says: “
The soldiers accused me of being the mother of rebels. They kept my family out and then raped me one by one in the house. They hit my genitals and stomach. It lasted four hours. My body and my mind were broken. I hid the truth from my children. Raped women cannot speak otherwise the community rejects them. Others suffered the same fate. It's a strategy. The army wants us to stop being fertile. They fear that our future children will take revenge.
"
Azadamara received psychological support.
She underwent urine tests, blood tests, screening for STDs.
She is far from being the only victim.
Sister Mulu created One Stop a year and a half ago.
Today, the center can no longer cope with the influx.
“
With the war, we went from 30 to 200 people per month.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For a month, the cases have been even more serious.
With gang rapes and objects introduced into the genitals.
These women arrive in a very unstable state.
Some are injured after being raped by 40 or 50 soldiers.
I have never seen such a tragedy.
We are exhausted.
We need more space and more medicine,
”she explains.
One Stop also manages a shelter in the city where around forty people who are very fragile or potentially in danger can stay for several months. But the flow of patients never stops. Social worker, Hira tries to bring comfort to the victims. “
The survivors are damaged. I encourage them to express themselves. And we are preparing a project that can help them. Sometimes I cry with them. It is very stressful. At home, I'm on edge. So this is a difficult mission
. "
One stop has nine employees, including police officers and lawyers so that investigations can be opened. Hadas is a prosecutor. She fights so that the culprits will one day be punished, even if she does not have too much illusion. “
The justice system has collapsed. But we are gathering the medical evidence, the testimonies, so that one day we can hold the government and the military to account. Our capacities are limited. We don't have the identity of the criminals. We don't know what group they belong to. They rape in one place and go elsewhere the next day. We feel useless,
”she laments.
For the first time, at the end of May, the public prosecutor announced the conviction of four soldiers, adding that 53 soldiers were under investigation.
This is far too little according to observers.
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