Raped Boko Haram escapees 'stigmatised'published at 13:02 Greenwich Mean Time 16 February 2016
Nigerian girls and women, who were kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram have faced mistrust and hostility from their families and wider communities after escaping the Islamist militant group, a new report says, external.
Communities interviewed for the report viewed returnees as "Boko Haram wives" and "annoba", meaning epidemics in the Hausa language, conveying the fear they have been radicalised and, if allowed to return home, might recruit others, according to the report by International Alert and the UN's children fund (Unicef).
The children, who were born as a result of the women's rapes, were also stigmatised, accused of having “bad blood”, the report adds.
However, over time they did reintegrate once trust was rebuilt, the report said.
Kim Toogood, one of the report's authors, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.