Rape in wartorn Ukraine: UN report documents sexual abuse

In its eleventh report on the human rights situation in Ukraine the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented several cases of alleged rape and sexual assault in occupied parts of the country's east, Ukraine Today reports.

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The report detailed one example, where a woman, kept captive with her child by militants in the occupied Luhansk region, was severely beaten with rifle butts and gang raped until she lost consciousness, according to Ukraine Today.

According to some reports many Ukrainian women are kept in sexual slavery by Russian-backed forces in Luhansk and Donetsk.

Fearing stigma or repercussions, many rape victims do not come forward to report the violence

See unian.info’s video section for more of the latest news from Ukraine in video from Ukraine Today, Ukraine’s 24-hour English-language news channel.

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