Teen Rapes Reported at Mugabe Torture Camps

Pregnancy spike among victims as militia crushes Mugabe opposition
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 6, 2008 8:30 AM CDT
Teen Rapes Reported at Mugabe Torture Camps
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen, at a news conference in Harare Wednesday July 2, 2008.    (AP Photo)

Teenage pregnancy rates have spiked after youth militia members began raping Zimbabwean girls in President Robert Mugabe's torture camps, human rights workers tell the Times of London. The stigma against rape victims has kept the victims mostly silent, but a single hospital saw a spike of 16 expectant teenagers, and the trend is thought to be fairly widespread.

“It is a particularly brutal and disturbing element of the months of violence," said a human rights worker. The local militia is seeking to destroy support for the opposition party in the area. In Harare, Mugabe's regime are arresting, killing or driving away enough opposition parliament members to regain a majority. (More Zimbabwe stories.)

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