69 girls sexually assaulted in Mongolia in first two months of 2019

The statement came after reports were recently made public that an 8-year-old girl had been repeatedly raped by her biological father on a grazing ground.

"A total of 69 girls aged 6-17 have been affected by sexual assault across the country in the first two months of this year. The majority of the perpetrators of the sexual violence are people close to the victims, including their fathers, stepfathers, brothers and relatives," Batnasan Oyungerel, president of the MWF, told a press conference.

"The number of these types of crimes is likely to increase if relevant laws are not tightened," Oyungerel said, noting that more than 290 girls have suffered from sexual assault in the country over the past three years.

"This is the number recorded by police. Nobody knows how many other girls are now crying and suffering from sexual assault behind closed doors," she added.

Divorce and lack of adequate parental care are the main factors for girls to be sexually abused, she said, urging an improvement in the country's family laws related to divorce and parental responsibility.

According to Mongolian law, a man convicted of raping a girl under 14 years old will be punished by imprisonment of 12-20 years or a life sentence. In addition, a man who is found guilty of raping a girl aged 14-18 can be sentenced between two and eight years.