Authorities in Ethiopia have said more than 100 girls were raped and treated in the capital, Addis Ababa, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the privately owned Walta TV has reported.

The head of Addis Ababa women and children affairs office, Almaz Abraham, said sexual violence was on the rise as schools had been closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“One-hundred-and-one girls were raped in the past two months after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The problem is that, unlike when schools were open, the attacks are not being exposed until the girls get pregnant. Maybe, there would be chances of stopping it from reaching to that stage if the girls were going to school,” she said.

“Men who used to practise different habits outside their homes are now doing them to their children when they stay at home,” she added.