A rise in sexual violence means food prices have leapt in CAR as women and girls say they fear working in the fields
Koko was 17 when she and her 15-year-old sister were raped in her family's fields in Central African Republic. Her sister was also badly beaten by the men.Koko was 17 when she and her 15-year-old sister were raped in her family's fields in Central African Republic. Her sister was also badly beaten by the men.
“Whenever we tried to scream for help, they used their hands to cover our mouths so that nobody could hear us,” she says.The former French colony has suffered decades of instability since independence in 1960, with the first of six coups in 1966, when self-proclaimed “emperor” Jean-Bédel Bokassa seized power.
CAR is one of the most dangerous places in the world for women. Every hour, two people in the poverty-stricken nation are subjected to gender-based violence,. The International Fund for Agricultural Development, a UN agency, says the sector employs about 80% of rural people and generates half of the country’s GDP.
Like most women and girls, Awa did not alert the police. “The white soldiers are above the law,” says Sandrine*, Awa’s grandmother. “Nobody will punish them for what they did.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Workers at underground Grosvenor coal mine in Central Queensland evacuated after fireA fire at an underground mine at Moranbah in Central Queensland has broken out at the same site where there was an explosion in 2020 that injured five workers.
Read more »
Ukraine war briefing: multiple casualties in Russian attack on Dnipro apartment blockInfant among six injured, with at least one dead and more trapped in building in central Ukraine; 10 Ukrainian civilians freed from Russia and Belarus jails in Vatican-mediated deal. What we know on day 857
Read more »
Tories 'highly alarmed' by network of pro-Russian Facebook pages interfering in UK electionAhead of a historic UK election, five Facebook pages secretly operating from Nigeria are using Kremlin-aligned propaganda and AI-generated racist imagery to sow 'division and chaos'.
Read more »
Could central London, headquarters of God and mammon, really be turning red?The affluent constituency is home to Mayfair clubs, Soho theatres and City types – one of whom told me: ‘We need to pay more tax’, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
Read more »
Former PMs John Howard and Tony Abbott targeted in new Russian sanctionsThe pair are among 37 prominent Australians singled out by the Kremlin over their support for Ukraine.
Read more »
Astronauts take cover as defunct Russian satellite splits into nearly 200 piecesThe six US astronauts aboard International Space Station rush to their spacecrafts in case of emergency departure
Read more »