HRW state that in July 2016, it documented the abuse
and exploitation of 43 women and girls
living in camps for internally displaced
people (IDPs) across the northeastern city of
Maiduguri in Nigeria's restive Borno State.
The victims displaced from various cities,
had their movement restricted in some cases
after having spent months in military
screening camps, the group said.
HRW claimed that the Nigerian government
was not doing enough to protect the victims
and to ensure that they had access to basic
rights and services.
"It is bad enough that these women and girls
are not getting much-needed support for the
horrific trauma they suffered at the hands of
Boko Haram," said Mausi Segun, senior
Nigeria researcher at HRW.
While four of the victims interviewed
reported that they had been drugged and
raped, a further 37 claimed to have been
coerced into sex through promises of
marriage and financial assistance. Many of
the women reported having been abandoned
after they fell pregnant, with their children
suffering discrimination and abuse at the
hands of other residents in the camp.
Read accounts from the victims'
interviewed here.
A situational assessment conducted by
Nigerian research organisation NOI Polls
further revealed that 66% of 400 displaced
people living in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe
states had reported sexual abuse from
officials within the camps.
Irregular supplies of food, medical aid and
clothing had led to the exploitation of some
of the most vulnerable individuals living in
the camps, with men using their positions of
authority and privilege to have sex with
women who sometimes only receive one
meal a day.
The report said that victims of rape and
sexual abuse were less likely to seek
healthcare, with fewer than five of the 43
women interviewed reporting that they
sought formal counselling following their
harrowing ordeals. In addition, a medical
health worker reported a rise in the number
of people requiring HIV treatment, from
about 200 cases in 2014 to more than 500
in July 2016.
Aid workers warned since early 2016 that
women were being coerced into exchanging
sex for basic necessities, with members of
the security forces, along with other
elements subjecting them to gross gender-
based violence.
Following his visit to Maiduguri in August
2016, United Nations special rapporteur on
the human rights of internally displaced
persons, Chaloka Beyani, said that the
Nigerian government had "a tendency to
downplay the problem of sexual violence
and abuse" of internally displaced people.
HRW said it had since approached
authorities regarding the finding of its
report.
"Failure to respond to these widely reported
abuses amounts to severe negligence or
worse by Nigerian authorities. Authorities
should provide adequate aid in the camps,
ensure freedom of movement for all
displaced people, safe and confidential
health care for survivors, and punish the
abusers," Segun said.
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