The conflict in Sudan has greatly affected women and children, increasing the dangers of sexual violence and forcing many women and children to flee. There have been disturbing reports about women dying by suicide just to avoid being raped by armed militia.
Hala Al-Karib, the Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), confirmed this in an interview on News Central’s programme Jasiri.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, over 14 million people fled their homes with hunger, disease and sexual violence rampant.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has reported that paramilitaries are targeting the female population. The Chairman, Mohamed Chande Othman, highlighted the abduction of women and girls for sexual slavery, saying that there is no safe place in Sudan.
Hala Al-Karib said, “From the first day of the war, women have been sexually violated. There have been support forces. Militia has been entering homes in Khartoum, the capital, and they committed multiple and a large number of rape and sexual violence crimes, and it continues.
“But the truth is, sexual violence and rape in Sudan does not happen in a vacuum. It has been happening in the country for over 20 years in that world, yet it’s exacerbated and became much worse since the beginning of this war.
“Our body is being used as a war tool and as a weapon of war. And very true, the women in central Sudan, they have been committing suicide because they couldn’t bear the pain of gang rape and torture they are experiencing at the hand of the armed militia.”
