Macia* was 13 years old when she arrived, already pregnant, at a camp for internally displaced people in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, in May 2020.
Like thousands of others, she had escaped the conflict that has been raging in the province since 2018, mainly fought between militant Islamist fighters (known locally as Al-Shabaab) and Mozambican security forces. The Islamists burnt down her home, beheaded her father and brothers, and raped her.
But now, Macia alleges that while she’s been in the camp, she’s been forced to exchange sex for food aid from local relief workers. “I have been sleeping with several men since 2020 in order to feed myself and my toddler,” she told openDemocracy.
