mo4ch:>Women in Congo forced to pay for Ebola vaccine with sex – reports | Mo4ch News

Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo seeking an experimental vaccine against the second-largest-ever Ebola epidemic are being sexually exploited, according to reports swirling around a pioneering WHO vaccination program.Participants in an Ebola vaccine study and aid workers alike have raised alarms that women are being asked for "sexual favors" in exchange for the vaccine and other "Ebola-related services," part of a rising tide of gender-based violence that has paralleled the epidemic, according to research presented at a national task force meeting in Beni and reported by the Guardian."This region of DRC has a long history of sexual violence and exploitation of women and girls. Though shocking, this is an issue that could have been anticipated," said Trina Helderman, a senior health and nutrition adviser at aid NGO Medair, calling out "humanitarian actors" for failing to institute more comprehensive safety measures to protect women an…