Sexual Exploitation by Ugandan Troops in the Central African Republic

“Karin,” a 15-year-old girl in Obo who was eight months pregnant at the time of photo. She told Human Rights Watch that a Ugandan soldier paid her up to 5,000 CFA (approximately $8.30 USD) to be his local “wife.” "He would take me to the base. I would go maybe once or twice a week," she said. "This lasted for a month, it was always with the same man. Sometimes, instead of money, he would bring ground corn or beans or rice... I could spend the night in the base, there were no problems... When I told him I was pregnant he said, 'Well, things are like that.' But then he just left. One day he was gone. He left about four months ago.... Since he has gone, I have no contact with him." ©2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

“Claire,” 25-years-old, whose has a child fathered by a Ugandan soldier, said that Ugandan troops approached her in 2016, before Ugandan investigators arrived in Obo. “The soldiers came to my house and told me to say the child was a Central African,” she said. “They told me, ‘Don’t say the boy is a Ugandan or it will make problems for you. It will be bad.’ I said, ‘How can it get worse? I have been abandoned with nothing anyway.’” © 2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

"Jeanette," a 30-year-old mother of three, has a child, now two years old, fathered by a Ugandan soldier. She explained: “He came and saw me at the house one day and he said that he wanted to have a relationship with me. He said he would give me money and soap. I needed this kind of help. Understand that I am very poor.... He would come to my house but sometimes I would go to the base and spend the night. When I went to the Ugandan base it was not a problem. It was normal for women to go in and out -- it still is... Now I have another child [fathered by the soldier]. It is not good because I am in charge of all of these kids. I don’t know where we can find food. Each day is a struggle. The child is not studying yet, but it does not matter because I do not have the money to pay the school fees." © 2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

28-year-old “Margaret” holds her two-year-old daughter fathered by a Ugandan soldier. "He said he wanted to marry me and take me to Uganda," she said. "But he said that to do that we would have to start the relationship here in Obo. He would give me 1,000 CFA (approximately $1.60 USD) or some small food after sex, a small sack of corn or maybe cabbage or tomatoes... When I told him I was pregnant he said, 'The child is my gift to you. It will be a souvenir to remember me by.'" ©2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

A 17-year-old girl in Obo holds her 5-month-old child fathered by a Ugandan soldier. "The soldier would give me 5,000 CFA (approximately $8.30 USD) every two weeks," she said. "With that money I would buy food. He would come to the house two to three times a week." When the girl was eight months pregnant the soldier returned to Uganda, abandoning her and leaving her to pay hospital fees for the birth. "I was in school [when I met him]," she said. "But when I got pregnant I stopped going because nobody would help me... It bothers me that I will have to miss more school and start late again. It is not good for my future or the future of my child. I should get some assistance from this soldier. My life is really difficult since he abandoned me with this baby. It is a struggle." ©2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

A 26-year-old woman who gave birth to two children from being exploited by a Ugandan soldier. He left Obo in 2015 while she was pregnant with the second child. "He proposed that I should be his ‘wife,’" she said. "He said he would give me money so I accepted because I needed the money. He would come see me often, sometimes every day. He would bring me 5,000 CFA (approximately $8.30 USD) a week. It is because I was in a difficult situation that I accepted." © 2017 Lewis Mudge/Human Rights Watch

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