Child rape is far too common in some war-torn African countries

FOR A FLEETINGUNUN instant it is possible to believe that Yei (not her real name) is a normal, if shy, three-year-old. “Smart Brave Amazing'' declares her pyjama top, the words smiling up in red, yellow and green. But the woman Yei clings to is not her mother and the building she is in is not her home. She is in a -funded government shelter for survivors of sexual assault in northern Liberia. A few months earlier her grandmother trusted a familiar motorbike taxi driver to take Yei to her parents. Instead he raped her. Yei spent two weeks in hospital as doctors tried to repair the damage. She no longer speaks and has been in the shelter for three months. Her parents, wary of the rapist’s family, are scared to bring her home.Sexual abuse of young children happens all around the world. But children living in war-torn countries are at much higher risk. Those in countries recovering from conflict, such as Liberia, may also face greater dangers. The has recorded 15,000 cases of rape and sexual violence against children in conflict zones over the past 15 years. This, it warns, is probably a fraction of the true number. Around 72m children live in war zones in which fighters sexually attack children, according to research by Ragnhild Nordås of the University of Michigan and co-authors. That is almost ten times the number in 1990.