Women who flee Somalia to escape conflict and famine face sexual assault by armed militants and bandits as they travel to the world’s largest refugee complex in Kenya. However, violence against women does not stop once in the refugee camp. The sharp increase in the number of refugees has pushed women to the edges of camps, where they are more vulnerable to attack. A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya said that the group has been working to increase security and move vulnerable women to a safer location. UNHCR is also providing women with firewood, as many women are attacked while searching for wood outside the camp. UNHCR has been moving people into recently opened camps, which include a small number of houses reserved for “the most vulnerable.”
Compiled from: Kim Lewis, Somali Women Face Rape, Sexual Assault as They Flee Famine , Voice of America (02 Aug. 2011).