NEW YORK (REUTERS) - More than 500rape cases have been reported to five clinics in Ethiopia's Tigray region, the United Nations said on Thursday (March 25), warning that the actual numbers were likely to be much higher due to stigma and a lack of health services.

"Women say they have been raped by armed actors, they also told stories of gang rape, rape in front of family members and men being forced to rape their own family members under the threat of violence," Ms Wafaa Said, deputy UN aid coordinator in Ethiopia, said in a briefing to UN member states in New York.