According to the UN, rape and other forms of sexual violence by all sides in South Sudan's civil war have become so widespread that a two-year-old child was among the victims.
The UN said men, women, boys and girls are being raped. 74% of the rape victims were under 18 years of age. If you go out to get firewood or go to the river for a bath, you are likely to get raped.
Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict told reporters about a recent trip to one of South Sudan's regions worst hit by the conflict.
She said internally displaced persons seeking refuge there face horrid living conditions, security concerns and widespread sexual violence.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of sexual assaults in South Sudan, since fighting between two ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer, erupted in December.
The UN says up to 24,000 women there are at risk.
Jane (not her real name) described how she cowered in the grass clutching her nine year old son as her sister in law was gang raped and shot right in front of her. She says it was God alone that kept her from being spotted and her son from making any noise.
Women raped under the noses of UN forces
Investigators believe that sexual violence is happening on a scale not seen before in South Sudan.
Claims of rape have been levelled at both government soldiers and rebel forces, but the allegations are extremely hard to verify.
Thousands of people from South Sudan now live in camps after a political dispute turned into a civil war.
Yet even here, under UN protection, women are not safe.
I know it's policy for UN peace-keepers to not intervene in matters like this, but what is the point of being there? The UN forces, by turning a blind eye, are complicit in the rapes. That should not be. Peace-keeping policy needs to be re-worked.
The UN said men, women, boys and girls are being raped. 74% of the rape victims were under 18 years of age. If you go out to get firewood or go to the river for a bath, you are likely to get raped.
Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN special representative on sexual violence in armed conflict told reporters about a recent trip to one of South Sudan's regions worst hit by the conflict.
She said internally displaced persons seeking refuge there face horrid living conditions, security concerns and widespread sexual violence.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of sexual assaults in South Sudan, since fighting between two ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer, erupted in December.
The UN says up to 24,000 women there are at risk.
Jane (not her real name) described how she cowered in the grass clutching her nine year old son as her sister in law was gang raped and shot right in front of her. She says it was God alone that kept her from being spotted and her son from making any noise.
Women raped under the noses of UN forces
Investigators believe that sexual violence is happening on a scale not seen before in South Sudan.
Claims of rape have been levelled at both government soldiers and rebel forces, but the allegations are extremely hard to verify.
Thousands of people from South Sudan now live in camps after a political dispute turned into a civil war.
Yet even here, under UN protection, women are not safe.
I know it's policy for UN peace-keepers to not intervene in matters like this, but what is the point of being there? The UN forces, by turning a blind eye, are complicit in the rapes. That should not be. Peace-keeping policy needs to be re-worked.
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