Liberia: Living with fistula

Hadjo Garbo, victim of an early marriage in Niger at age 13. She was pregnant by 14 and suffered a fistula after three days in labour and a still-birth. (Image: Nicholas Reader/IRIN)

Aid workers say the statistic, provided by the Women of Liberia Peace Network (WOLPNET) from surveys conducted in April 2008, shows the horrifying prevalence of rape and of a phenomenon which Liberian medical officials say they are ill-equipped to respond to.

“These women are living with a serious scar and they are not getting access to treatment,” said Una Thompson, head of WOLPNET.

According to local health workers two types of fistula cases are prevalent in Liberia.

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