According to Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein who addressed the UN Human Rights council in a special session on Boko Haram,
“During
their captivity, lasting in many cases for months or even years, women
and girls have been sexually enslaved, raped and forced into so-called
‘marriages’”
He said many survivors of the
horrific episode are now pregnant by their rapists and several
reportedly wish to terminate these unwanted pregnancies.
However,
Nigeria's abortion laws do not allow for such a procedure to be done
except the life of the woman is at risk. In any other case abortions
are illegal.
Al Hussin therefore strongly urged "the
most compassionate possible interpretation of the current regulations
in Nigeria to include the risk of suicide and risks to mental health for
women and young girls who have suffered such appalling cruelty,"
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