'It would have been better if they'd killed me': A forgotten war destroying women's lives

Enat was at home with her eight-year-old niece when the soldiers came one Sunday morning, she says.The Ethiopian army was carrying out searches of homes in the Amhara region on 5 January this year, as part of a crackdown on a growing rebellion launched by local militias known as Fano.Enat says three men, dressed in army uniform, entered her home in South Gondar and began asking questions about her family background and whether Fano fighters had visited the beer hall where she worked.Enat, 21, said they had."How could we lie? How can we hide the truth?" Enat says, noting that Fano - an Amharic word loosely translated as volunteer fighters - is made up of locals.Things quickly escalated.After asking questions about her family background, Enat says the soldiers began insulting her, then threatened her niece with a gun when the little girl started crying.Enat says one of the soldiers then raped her in front of her niece while the others kept guard."I begged them not to hurt me. I called on the saints and begged them. But their hearts didn't pity me. They violated me."Thousands of reports of rape and assaultEnat, who is from the Amhara ethnic group, the second largest in Ethiopia, is among thousands of women believed to have been sexually assaulted and raped since the conflict between the Ethiopian army and Fano started in August 2023.Sexual violence in the region is largely undocumented, but the BBC has collated data which shows there have been thousands of reports of rape between July 2023 and May 2025, with victims as young as eight and as old as 65.While restrictions have prevented independent media from entering Amhara to cover the conflict, the BBC team in Nairobi, in neighbouring Kenya, managed to speak to women and doctors in the region, offering a rare insight into the human impact of the crisis.The conflict began when the government attempted to disband regional military groups, including those in Amhara, which had fought with the army during the 2020-2022 civil war in the next-door region of Tigray.Fano militias felt betrayed by the move and believed it would leave them vulnerable to attack from Tigray and elsewhere, especially as violence against the Amhara community had intensified, according to rights groups.In response, Fano launched a rebellion, seizing major towns. They claim to be fighting for regional autonomy and protecting their communities from marginalisation by the Ethiopian government.The insurgency has resulted in a violent crackdown by the army, which calls Fano "radical ethno-nationalists".Since the conflict started, both sides have been accused of numerous human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, forced displacement, destruction of property, looting and widespread cases of sexual violence, including rape.Regular customerRights groups, including Amnesty International, say there is evidence the army is disproportionately responsible for the abuses. They also say that Amhara people in other parts of Ethiopia have been deliberately targeted by the security forces and other armed groups.Before she was attacked, Enat had never had sex and planned to one day marry at her local church in a ceremony conducted in accordance with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's rites, just as other women in her family had done.Such marriages are among the most revered traditions of the Amhara people, who are predominantly Orthodox Christian, but it requires couples to remain "pure" and not have any sexual contact until marriage."Before that day, I had never known a man," she says."It would have been better if they had killed me."'My family found me unconscious'Tigist, 18, from West Gojjam, also in the Amhara region, worked in her family's small, traditional teahouse before she was attacked.She describes how, in January 2024, a soldier who was a regular customer groped her. She says she rejected him - an act she believes led to the attack.Later that evening, as she was returning home from work, she says three soldiers, including the man who groped her, ambushed her in the street and gang-raped her on the pavement."My family found me unconscious on the roadside," she recalls. "They carried me to the clinic, where I spent five days."Since the attack, Tigist says she's been unable to leave her house, paralysed by fear of men and the outside world."My fear keeps me from going to work... Whenever I see soldiers or any men I panic and hide myself away."She ended up retreating from her life and breaking off her engagement. She says she never told her fiance why or what happened.Overwhelmed by despair, Tigist attempted to take her own life, but her family intervened just in time and saved her. She says that although she has contemplated suicide since then, she has promised her family she will not try to kill herself again.'It is repulsive to have been born a woman'The BBC collected data from 43 health facilities in Amhara - roughly 4% of all health facilities in the region - and other medical sources to get a snapshot of what has been happening.At these facilities, there were 2,697 reports of rape between 18 July 2023 and May 2025. Children under 18 accounted for 45% of cases.Warning: This report contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence. Names of victims have been changed and identifying details omitted to protect their privacy and safety.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2p8dpw1rwo

'It would have been better if they'd killed me': A forgotten war destroying women's lives

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Namibian Sun 2026-03-26

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'It would have been better if they'd killed me': A forgotten war destroying women's lives

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Namibian Sun 2026-03-26

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