The war in Sudan is having a devastating impact on women and girls. For easier access to assistance, jobs and promises of money, some Sudanese refugee women say they were sexually exploited in Chad.

Such sexual exploitation is a crime in the Sahelian nation.

“I came to Chad and the food they gave us was not enough, so I slept with a man and gave birth to this child. We had four children (from the marriage), this is the fifth child. I had to, because they don’t give us anything to eat.”

The 27-year-old mother cradled her last born, who she said was the child of a helper who promised her money in exchange for sex. The women who spoke to the AP requested anonymity because they feared retribution from the men they said were exploiting them.

Women and girls interviewed in the Adre camp near the border with Sudan said the men who exploited them included aid workers and local security forces.

A 19-year-old refugee woman said she saw many of her family members killed in front of her before she fled. She arrived with her mother at the Aboutengue camp.

“In the camp, living conditions were difficult for us, so I went to work in the sex trade with the intention of covering our household expenses,” she said. She also gave birth to a child after engaging in sex work. “Now I regret what happened.”

Ali Mahamat Sebey, the prefect of the area, dismissed the allegations against the security forces as false.

The majority of Sudanese refugees in Chad are women. Aid groups are scrambling to support them in places of growing displacement.

“The fact that the assistance is not enough for them may be a reason for them to go for survival sex.”

The UN refugee agency said the displacement camps have “safe spaces” where women can gather, along with a free hotline and feedback boxes to report abuse anonymously.

However, the use of boxes could attract the attention of some women they fear, many did not even know they existed.