Across eight countries in Africa, food shortages are leading to soaring rates of violence against girls and women, as Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia continue to suffer the worst drought experienced in the Horn of Africa in 40 years.
According to new research conducted by Plan International and its partners, women and girls in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Haiti are experiencing increasing rates of rape, intimate partner violence, child, early and forced marriages, sexual harassment and sexual exploitation.
The research comes as Plan International Australia is calling on the Australian Government to provide $150m in immediate famine relief.
Researchers conducted interviews with more than seven thousand women and girls for the report, and analysed data from surveys and focus groups to find the startling risk women and girls face amidst the global hunger crisis.
Dr Unni Krishnan (@unnikru), Global Humanitarian Director at @PlanGlobal explains that “hunger affects girls, boys, women and men differently. Girls, because of their age and gender, are often the most vulnerable when food is scarce.”
— Plan International EU (@PlanEU) January 26, 2023
Child, Early and Forced Marriage
Girls as young as two are being forced into engagement, or being ‘booked’, as families struggle to find ways of minimising the number of people to feed, or as a source of dowry.
In South Sudan, dowry payment continues to be an important source of income for families.
In Ethiopia, external data analysed by researchers show that child marriage has increased by 51 per cent over a twelve month period. Families also acknowledged child marriage was a way for them to “protect girls – including from pregnancy outside of marriage.”
Focus group discussions involving local girls recorded them saying marriage is a way for them to cope and bolster their own food security.
In Mali, as well as Ethiopia, school closures are directly leading to higher rates of child marriage.
“Globally, there are now 50 million people on the brink of starvation,” Plan International’s global humanitarian director, Dr Unni Krishnan said.
“Many of them, including infants and pregnant women, are teetering on the edge of famine.
“While these statistics paint a terrifying picture, they fail to tell us how hunger impacts people differently.”
Dr Krishnan noted the ways girls’ adversities are being overlooked because of their age and gender.
“[They] are often the most vulnerable when food is scarce,” Dr Krishnan said. “They are often the last to eat, the first to be taken out of school, and most at risk of child marriage and other forms of gender-based violence.”
“Unless international support is scaled up urgently, countless girls risk becoming invisible victims of this devastating hunger crisis. Hunger is a solvable problem, but urgent action is needed to stop this food crisis from becoming a full-blown famine which will hit children, especially girls, the hardest. Donors need to step up funding.”
Across South Sudan, Niger and Haiti, child marriage continues to contribute to girls dropping out of school, as educated girls are attracting less dowry since families believe they will produce fewer children.
Food and Water Shortage
Despite varying causes of hunger from country to country, cultural rules mean girls and women are eating less than the boys and men in the same household, and after them — leading to poorer health and development.
Dwindling water sources also mean that girls and women are walking up to 15 to 25km to find water, placing them at risk of sexual and physical violence.
One woman in Ethiopia told researchers, “Traveling long distances at night time is very risky for us, younger girls and women are exposed to sexual violence risks including rape and they are endangered by dangerous wild animals like a hyena, however, mostly we prefer to go to the water sources by night just to avoid the competition and get water.”
Across all eight nations, families report that children are struggling to maintain focus at school due to hunger.
Australian humanitarian partnership
Plan International has been providing life-saving support across the eight countries researched, including cash assistance, emergency food and water supplies and school meals.
But more needs to be done.
The Australian branch of the organisation has called on the Australian Government to invest $150m in immediate famine relief in Africa, as well as investment in a long-term Global Food Strategy that will look at the root cause of the hunger crisis.
Plan International Australia is hoping the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) will be activated to continue using its established networks in the Horn of Africa to address the impact of famine in countries including South Sudan, Somalia and Lebanon.