Ethiopia: Brutal Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Continues To This Day
On July 31, 2025, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), both non-governmental organizations, published the results of an investigation into conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence (CRSV) in Ethiopia, focusing on the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions. The new report, entitled ''You Will Never Be Able to Give Birth': Conflict-Related Sexual and Reproductive Violence in Ethiopia', is the first publication to comprehensively analyze patterns of perpetration of CRSV in the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions. The report shows widespread, systematic, and deliberate acts of CRSV which continue to this day.
The report makes several concerning findings in relation to the nature and scale of the use of CRSV in Ethiopia. The report, based on 515 medical records of survivors of CRSV, 602 survey responses from health workers who have treated survivors of CRSV, and 39 in-depth interviews with health workers and four focus groups with professionals who provided care to survivors, found that:
- 91% of surveyed health workers reported seeing patients who had experienced multiple perpetrator rape; medical records showed a median of three perpetrators per incident.
- 90% of surveyed health workers saw at least a few patients with unwanted pregnancy from CRSV.
- Medical records and interviews reveal that perpetrators inserted objects – stones, nails, hand-written letters with revenge plans citing previous wars – inside of survivors' vaginas.
- 84% of health workers surveyed indicated survivors identified members of the Eritrean military as perpetrators. 73% of health workers surveyed indicated survivors identified members of the Ethiopian military as perpetrators; 51% indicated Amhara militias and Fano.
The report is the first to identify the use of the crime of forced pregnancy while in captivity, with survivors held in captivity by their perpetrators until giving birth. The report is further the most comprehensive documentation of the intent of perpetrators behind the atrocities in Tigray – the first time evidence of intent has been triangulated between medical records, health worker surveys, and interviews. According to this in-depth study, perpetrators expressed intent to prevent future Tigrayan births and exterminate the ethnic group. Many of the perpetrators were quoted to say: 'Tigrayans have to be eradicated' as they were committing CRSV. The report is also the first to capture data on CRSV in Amhara and Afar, including a temporal analysis showing how the lack of atrocity prevention in Tigray led to the spread of CRSV in other parts of the country.
The report documents several heartbreaking testimonies. As a coordinator for a women's group in Tigray was quoted in the report: 'There are women here who have scars left on their bodies. There are those who have given birth unexpectedly. There are those who got pregnant unexpectedly. There was a woman whose husband [a former soldier] was not present during the war, the perpetrator, an Ethiopian soldier who knew her husband, came to her house and forced her into marriage and even had their picture taken together and hung it in her house. He got her pregnant during that time and gave her his address [so that] his unborn child could find him when he left. So, this is something that the war has brought.'
The findings of this report should trigger responses from the international community. However, as it stands, the situation is rarely making the headlines as the world is focused elsewhere. This is despite the fact that the situation in the region is deteriorating and raising concerns about a re-escalation of conflict in northern Ethiopia and surging geopolitical tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The situation is further exacerbated by the drastic foreign aid cuts, which have shuttered health clinics and led to preventable deaths in Ethiopia. As the dire situation continues, victims/survivors must be put first. This means assistance to all those suffering from the consequences of the horrific CRSV perpetrated over recent years. This means investigating and prosecuting all those responsible for the crimes. This also means investing in prevention, as no money in the world can comprehensively address CRSV once perpetrated.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
WIRED
6 hours ago
- WIRED
How to Clean Your Mattress No Matter How Gross It Gets
From barf to blood, your stained mattress isn't necessarily beyond repair. Here's how to salvage your investment from every worst-case scenario. Courtesy of Amazon; Getty Images All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. It's important to know how to clean your mattress. Not just for day-to-day cleanliness and hygiene, but let's say you're dealing with an emergency—a 'my mattress is ruined" situation where you have the frantic energy of an emergency clean-up crew. Is a trip to the dump inevitable? Not necessarily. Before you think, 'I'm so clean, this would never happen to me!' I'm telling you, it can. I've seen a lot over the course of my career as a professional mattress tester and certified sleep coach. If you plan to have your mattress for its full eight- to 10-year lifespan, you'll want to keep it as pristine as possible. I chatted with cleaning influencer and third-generation janitor Brandon Pleshek of Clean That Up to see how he would approach the common situations below. Scenario 1: Someone Peed the Bed Life happens, sleep happens, and sometimes bladder control is an issue. This can be common at any age, from little kids to seniors. Or, maybe your pet had an accident. I've been there. Time is of the essence with this situation, to avoid a stain and—more urgently—smells from taking root. According to Pleshek, the quicker you address a fresh urine stain, the better. 'Speed is gonna help,' he says. 'The longer you let the urine sit, the more it'll soak in, and the harder it'll be to get it completely out.' According to Pleshek, urine contains a lot of salt. It will require more heavy-duty cleaning agents to adequately get it out. The solution of choice: enzyme cleaners, like Nature's Miracle ($13). 'Enzymes are your best approach right away, because those can attack the urine stain instantly,' says Pleshek. Extracting via a Shop-Vac or portable carpet cleaner is also a great first step. 'Suck as much of that out as possible so that it can't go deeper. Enzymes help with odor.' When it comes to using enzymes, Pleshek cautions, 'You have to make sure to let them sit for as long as they say on the label. Enzymes need time to work. The label's the law, so do your best to follow it and that'll help things clean up better.' Now, let's say that you don't have an enzyme cleaner handy. For fresh urine, using a clean towel or paper towels, blot at the stain to pick up as much moisture as you can. Grab a spray bottle (Pleshek says in a pinch, you can just grab a spray nozzle off a bottle you have and stick it on the bottle you're using) and put together a cup of white vinegar, two cups of cold water, and a few drops of either dish soap or laundry detergent. Mix well, and then spray down the affected area. After 10 to 15 minutes, grab a fresh towel or paper towels to blot up the solution. Then sprinkle baking soda over the stain like there's no tomorrow. Once the spot is fully covered, leave it alone for eight to 10 hours—again, use your judgement based on how bad the stain is. Once Mount Baking Soda has dried up, and enough time has passed, you can vacuum it all up using a hose attachment. One note: Be wary of over-saturating your mattress. Leaving liquid behind can cause mold and mildew within your mattress. 'Anytime you're getting your mattress wet: vacuum, vacuum, and then when you think you're done at vacuuming and extracting that out with a little spotter machine, do it two more times,' Pleshek says. 'Always put a fan on it and get good airflow through the room.' Scenario 2: Your Period Arrived Early Looks like you have a crime scene on your hands: the crime being the mattress mess. Blood stains are a pain when it comes to removing them from any fabric, and mattresses are not exempt. Periods aren't the only situations where blood could mysteriously appear; healing cuts, scabs, and nosebleeds are also common. The miracle cleanup go-to for bloody situations, according to Pleshek, is hydrogen peroxide. Pleshek's cleanup process is this: 'Grab a brown bottle, get a basic spray bottle, and mist the area where the blood is. Let it sit.' It'll have a small reaction akin to a middle school science experiment, but that's good. Leave it alone for a good 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size and severity of your stain. 'What's kind of cool and fun about cleaning up blood with hydrogen peroxide is that you will see it bubble and it vanishes really fast,' adds Pleshek. 'Follow up with a damp towel and blot a bit to remove the stain.' Scenario 3: 'Mom, I Threw Up' Courtesy of Nature's Miracle Time is, once again, of the essence here. 'Vomit is extremely acidic,' says Pleshek. Depending on what was eaten, whether that be food or medication, it can make bile even more acidic than is typical. You need to act quickly to address the stain—and the smell. If any vomit made its way onto the mattress itself, remove any residual solids off the surface—you may want to wear gloves for this one. Enzyme cleaner is once again going to be your go-to. However, removing the excess vomit is a crucial step—you can't just spray it on top of the mess as is and hope for the best. According to Pleshek, the enzyme cleaner isn't going to be able to efficiently do its thing if all the excess hasn't been adequately removed first. Scenario 4: Food Stains I don't think you're going to be spilling chili all over your bed like Kevin in that scene from The Office , but I won't discount any possibilities. First, Pleshek says to grab a spray bottle, a tablespoon of dish soap, and warm water. From there, 'lightly agitate it with a toothbrush or soft material to suspend the soil.' Follow with a spotter machine. If something has the tenacity to stick around even after that, time to bring back our friend hydrogen peroxide. 'Mist [the stain] with hydrogen peroxide, and let it sit. The hydrogen peroxide should be able to pull out the color,' Pleshek says. He suggests doing this as a multistep process, because hydrogen peroxide and a degreaser don't work well simultaneously. While this two-prong approach may take more time and evaluation as you go, it's the recommended way to tackle the stain. Save the Day, Your Mattress, and Your Sanity This is one of my nonnegotiables, and it's backed by Pleshek: Get a waterproof mattress protector or encasement. It may save you a lot of heartache from big messes. These cleanup tips hopefully prove to be helpful. But from experience, you may breathe one big sigh of relief when you just have to handle bedding and not the bed itself by using one of these as a fail-safe.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Ethiopia: Brutal Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Continues To This Day
A woman poses for a photograph in an undisclosed location on October 11, 2024. She told AFP that at the beginning of the conflict in Tigray in November 2020, she had been beaten, tortured and raped by seven men with different military uniforms, Ethiopian and two-year war in Ethiopia's Tigray region left hundreds of thousands people dead, more than one million still displaced and cost more than $20 billion in damage, until a peace deal in November 2022 ended the bloodshed. Among the many barbaric acts inflicted on civilians during the two-year conflict in Ethiopia's northernmost region of Tigray, rape and sexual violence were "systematic" and used as a weapon of war, according to a study published in 2023 by the scientific journal BMC Women's Health. Estimates of the number of rapes committed vary widely — up to as many as 120,000 — according to data compiled by the researchers, with many reluctant to report the attacks. The victims reported that most of the perpetrators were Ethiopian or Eritrean soldiers, but also militiamen from the neighbouring Amhara region. (Photo credit: MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images On July 31, 2025, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), both non-governmental organizations, published the results of an investigation into conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence (CRSV) in Ethiopia, focusing on the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions. The new report, entitled ''You Will Never Be Able to Give Birth': Conflict-Related Sexual and Reproductive Violence in Ethiopia', is the first publication to comprehensively analyze patterns of perpetration of CRSV in the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions. The report shows widespread, systematic, and deliberate acts of CRSV which continue to this day. The report makes several concerning findings in relation to the nature and scale of the use of CRSV in Ethiopia. The report, based on 515 medical records of survivors of CRSV, 602 survey responses from health workers who have treated survivors of CRSV, and 39 in-depth interviews with health workers and four focus groups with professionals who provided care to survivors, found that: - 91% of surveyed health workers reported seeing patients who had experienced multiple perpetrator rape; medical records showed a median of three perpetrators per incident. - 90% of surveyed health workers saw at least a few patients with unwanted pregnancy from CRSV. - Medical records and interviews reveal that perpetrators inserted objects – stones, nails, hand-written letters with revenge plans citing previous wars – inside of survivors' vaginas. - 84% of health workers surveyed indicated survivors identified members of the Eritrean military as perpetrators. 73% of health workers surveyed indicated survivors identified members of the Ethiopian military as perpetrators; 51% indicated Amhara militias and Fano. The report is the first to identify the use of the crime of forced pregnancy while in captivity, with survivors held in captivity by their perpetrators until giving birth. The report is further the most comprehensive documentation of the intent of perpetrators behind the atrocities in Tigray – the first time evidence of intent has been triangulated between medical records, health worker surveys, and interviews. According to this in-depth study, perpetrators expressed intent to prevent future Tigrayan births and exterminate the ethnic group. Many of the perpetrators were quoted to say: 'Tigrayans have to be eradicated' as they were committing CRSV. The report is also the first to capture data on CRSV in Amhara and Afar, including a temporal analysis showing how the lack of atrocity prevention in Tigray led to the spread of CRSV in other parts of the country. The report documents several heartbreaking testimonies. As a coordinator for a women's group in Tigray was quoted in the report: 'There are women here who have scars left on their bodies. There are those who have given birth unexpectedly. There are those who got pregnant unexpectedly. There was a woman whose husband [a former soldier] was not present during the war, the perpetrator, an Ethiopian soldier who knew her husband, came to her house and forced her into marriage and even had their picture taken together and hung it in her house. He got her pregnant during that time and gave her his address [so that] his unborn child could find him when he left. So, this is something that the war has brought.' The findings of this report should trigger responses from the international community. However, as it stands, the situation is rarely making the headlines as the world is focused elsewhere. This is despite the fact that the situation in the region is deteriorating and raising concerns about a re-escalation of conflict in northern Ethiopia and surging geopolitical tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The situation is further exacerbated by the drastic foreign aid cuts, which have shuttered health clinics and led to preventable deaths in Ethiopia. As the dire situation continues, victims/survivors must be put first. This means assistance to all those suffering from the consequences of the horrific CRSV perpetrated over recent years. This means investigating and prosecuting all those responsible for the crimes. This also means investing in prevention, as no money in the world can comprehensively address CRSV once perpetrated.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Syncing With Your Chronotype Can Maximize Sleep and Productivity
zeljkosantrac/Getty Images Most people acknowledge that there are two types of sleepers in the world—early birds and night owls—but research has shown that there are actually four or more sleep-wake cycles. The time you naturally open your eyes in the morning and doze off in the evening is the individual expression of your circadian rhythm, a.k.a. your chronotype, which also drives when you feel most alert or sleepy throughout the day. Your chronotype is based on natural daily fluctuations in your body temperature and hormones. Generally, body temp rises as daylight increases. Alertness-boosting cortisol also notches upward in the morning, and then levels off and dips as daylight fades, coinciding with your level of mental awareness. As the sun sets, the sleepiness-promoting hormone melatonin replaces cortisol. The exact cadence of this flux varies based on genetics, Jennifer Martin, PhD, spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, tells SELF. The morning larks among us have a faster-ticking body clock, so this whole schedule kicks off earlier, she explains, while the night owls have a slower clock, pushing the pattern later. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. If you sync up your everyday schedule with your chronotype, you could find it easier to get quality sleep and also get things done. Read on to find expert advice for determining your chronotype and using this intel to align your activities with your body's innate rhythm. 3 ways to figure out your chronotype There's debate among researchers about exactly how many chronotypes there are, but Dr. Martin says it's helpful to think of these schedules as a continuum spanning from the earliest-rising larks to the latest-sleeping night owls. You might intuitively know if you have a strong inclination toward one extreme or the other, but sometimes the requirements of work and other daily obligations can overshadow our true preferences. So Dr. Martin suggests thinking about how you act on vacation (when you're not jetlagged). 'If you love staying up late and sleeping in until 10 or 11:00 a.m., you probably have night-owl tendencies,' she says. Whereas, 'if you go on vacation, and you're super excited about a 6:00 a.m. tee time, for example, you're likely a morning person.' To get more precise, you can also take a chronotype questionnaire. The Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) includes 19 questions—about when you'd ideally choose to wake up, do physically or mentally tough work, and go to sleep—and categorizes you as one of five types based on your score: definitely morning, moderately morning, neither type, moderately evening, and definitely evening. Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist and sleep medicine specialist, also created the popular ChronoQuiz, which assesses both your habits around and feelings about sleep—and groups people into four camps, each named after an animal with similar behaviors: the lions (which are the morning people), the wolves (a.k.a. the night folks), the bears (who fall in between), and the dolphins, who Dr. Breus explains have some 'genetic irregularity' and an erratic sleep pattern that doesn't fit neatly into the other camps. How to optimize your schedule based on your chronotype Sleep within your ideal window. Since chronotype is based on genetics, morning people can't typically sleep in to make up for late nights, and night people can't generally doze off sooner to account for earlier rise times, Dr. Martin points out. So, if your eyes usually open around dawn, do your best to turn in early enough to still clock the recommended seven-ish hours of sleep; and if you tend to stay awake until the wee hours, aim to sleep in late enough to hit that number. This way, you can get ahead of sleep deprivation and the full slate of health detriments that comes along with it. Of course, aligning your sleep schedule with your chronotype can be a struggle with life obligations—especially for the night owls, whose schedules conflict with societal norms around workday start times. In this scenario, do what you can to slide back your wakeup time and minimize the need for brain power before work: prep breakfast, lay out clothes, get a jump on other morning admin in the evenings. For the early birds (and neutral folks), standard work schedules tend to fit more easily. If you find that social and home tasks are creeping into your evenings and nudging your bedtime back, see how you can spread out plans (so you aren't hit with late nights back-to-back) and reallocate to-dos for before-work time. Do mentally challenging tasks during energy 'on' times. If you're a morning type, you don't just rise with the sun—your body's arousal level also peaks early, between 7 and 10 a.m.; whereas, nighttime types hit max alertness around 7 to 10 p.m., Cindi May, PhD, a professor of psychology at College of Charleston who studies chronotypes, tells SELF. Her research suggests your brain is also primed to do its best work during your respective 'on' period, particularly if you have a strong chronotype. That doesn't apply to every task. 'If you're using a highly practiced skill or rote responses, then you're probably going to be fine whenever,' she says. 'But if you are engaged in a task that requires analytic thinking or attention to detail, that demands that you filter out distraction in order to pay attention, then you'll likely perform best during your optimal zone.' These include activities like making a decision or having a tough conversation, recalling things, reasoning through a complex problem, or weighing the pros and cons of an idea. Practically, it can help to think of the day in two chunks: Morning types tend to experience their most productive hours in the first half of the day, and nighttime types, in the back half, Dr. Martin says. Neutral types can flex a bit in either direction. That said, there's generally an 'off' time for everyone, Dr. Martin says, which tends to fall around 2 to 4 p.m. All chronotypes may lose some alertness in this window, triggering difficulties with creativity and concentration. It's an ideal time for a nap or lower-lift tasks. Eat on a consistent schedule. The optimal timing of meals and snacks depends on your lifestyle and energy needs—but sticking to the same pattern each day (whatever it may be) is a boon for your circadian rhythm, Dr. Breus says. It's more important to eat your first meal of the day at a consistent time that aligns with your internal clock, say, shortly after you wake up, rather than at a specific hour on the wall clock, Dr. Martin says. Also, aim to wrap up eating a couple hours before your bedtime, Dr. Breus adds, as the workings of digestion could interfere with sleep efficiency and quality. Can you change your chronotype? Experts say it's not possible to switch your chronotype. Your genes are your genes, after all. But while your underlying tendency is set, there are things that can shift your sleep-wake schedule a bit on a given day. If you're a night owl and want to wake up and feel alert sooner, bathing your eyes in light first-thing can help get your daytime hormones flowing, and limiting light in the evening can kickstart the nighttime ones, Dr. Martin says. Vice versa if you're an early bird who wants to push your rhythm back: Avoid light for the first couple hours of your day, and get lots of it later on. Another potential chronotype-adjuster is exercise. Research suggests a dose of physical activity in the morning or afternoon can move your schedule up—so if you're a night owl, working out in the first part of the day could help you conk out earlier. By contrast, doing some movement in the back half of the day may delay your circadian rhythm a bit, which could benefit early birds who are looking to stay awake later into the night. If you're thinking, Doesn't caffeine have this effect, too?, you should know: It mostly masks sleepiness or grogginess, which may temporarily improve your focus, memory, and physical performance when you're running low on sleep, Dr. May says. But there's no evidence to suggest consuming it in the morning could move your circadian rhythm up. If anything, it's been shown to delay that schedule, which could make it even tougher for caffeine-gulping night owls to fall asleep at a reasonable hour. More broadly, caffeine can tamper with the quality of your sleep and make it less restorative, so relying on it to wake up earlier or stay up later than your norm isn't a great long-term strategy. Ultimately, unlocking an ideal schedule comes down to respecting your personal energetic cadence, Dr. Martin says. But for some people—like those with extreme chronotypes or ones that clash with their obligations—it can be super tough to get on track. If that's you, she says, it's best to reach out to a sleep specialist, who can offer targeted therapies to help match your sleep-wake pattern to the structure of your life (or the other way around). Related: 3 Things to Do When You're So, So Tired But Sleeping More Isn't an Option I Have ADHD. Here Are 9 Productivity Tips That Really Help Me 17 Energizing Afternoon Habits for When You Need a Pick-Me-Up Get more of SELF's great service journalism delivered right to your inbox. Originally Appeared on Self
