[Ugnet] Soldiers Cited in Sexual Abuse

A new report has named UPDF soldiers as some of the perpetrators of sexual violence against women and children in Pabbo IDP camp in northern Uganda.

The report, Suffering in Silence: A Study of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) In Pabbo Camp, was launched in Gulu recently. A United Nations child care organisation, Unicef, commissioned the research in September 2004.

"Attacks [against women and children] also come from soldiers whose task is to protect camp residents, as they demand for sex from women and girls in exchange for food, shelter, protection, etc," the reports reads in part.

But the UPDF spokesman in Gulu, Lt. Kiconco Tabaro, defended the forces, saying they have not received complaints about criminal behaviour by officers in Pabbo camp.

Army denies

"We are not aware that our officers in Pabbo are involved in such criminal activities. It is not the policy of the UPDF to condone such conduct. The normal procedure is that the culprits should be reported to us so that they face court martial," Kiconco said.

Pabbo IDP camp was created in 1986 with an initial population of 30,000 but the number has now more than doubled, with more than two thirds of them women and children.

According to the research, six out of every 10 women in the camp have been physically and sexually assaulted, threatened and humiliated by men including UPDF soldiers.

It says the most vulnerable groups, based on the data compiled from both the area police post and a health centre in the camp, are girls aged between 13 and 17. Women aged from 19 to 36 follow, then younger children aged from 4 to 9.

However, the report says it is difficult to estimate the actual extent of SGBV incidences in the camp. "Actual incidence of sexually inappropriate behaviour in Pabbo camp is estimated to be much higher than the cases reported," it says.

According to the report, current methods of estimating the number of women who are assaulted do not reflect the occurrence of violence. The statistics are based on reported incidents of abuse obtained from police, hospital records, LCs, and camp leaders.

Girls barter sex for goods

It says defilement rates are mostly a result of gross deprivation in the camps, forcing young girls to barter sex for essential items. Parents were also forcing their children into early marriages to get money, exposing the girls to HIV\Aids and sexually transmitted infections. According to the report, Pabbo Health Centre registered 49 births by girls below 18 years out of 80 births.

The report says one of the major effects of defilement has been exclusion from education, whereby the rate of girls dropping out of school was too high. In the P7 class of 2004 in Agole Primary School in Pabbo, there were only 20 girls compared to 76 boys.

Unicef country representative, Mr Martin Mogwanja, called for practical response from those concerned.

[Ugnet] Soldiers Cited in Sexual Abuse

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