Between the two highly-disputed presidential elections in Zimbabwe earlier this year, rights groups and dozens of victims say they were raped by ZANU-PF youth militias. Noah Novogrodsky, the legal director of U.S.-based advocacy group AIDS-Free World:
“We believe that the members of Mugabe’s inner circle who turned the ZANU-PF youth militia into rapists and killers are responsible,” said Novagrodsky, adding that a team of lawyers will be collecting evidence against the perpetrators for eventual criminal prosecution.
Women who have been raped are at higher risk of contracting AIDS, a serious danger in Zimbabwe where between 1.6 million and 1.9 million people are infected, according to the United Nations.
“Women have told me ‘When you are raped by 18 men you are already dead, so what is the use of keeping quiet, I must break the silence,’” said Makoni.
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