Women and girls in Sudan's war torn Darfur region continually face rape and sexual assault, despite increased international awareness in the five years since the start of the conflict. Human Rights Watch calls on government to end sexual violence in Darfur, as neither the Sudanese security forces nor international peacekeepers are doing enough to protect women from attack.
The issue of rape in Sudan is far from new, it is a staple of the conflict, sadly the impunity of the use of rape as a weapon of war in the Sudan is also far from braking news. However thus far out cries over such monstrous crimes have generally fallen on deaf ears, despite reports by aid agencies such HRW and Doctors Without Borders/MSF who released a report on the ‘alarming’ number of rapes in March 2005, The Crushing Burden of Rape, Sexual Violence in Darfur. Nonetheless these reports are just a few of many, however their efforts remain fruitless against the growing impunity and continued instability in Darfur.
Sadly rape is not the end of most victims suffering, as stigma, shame and shame accompany numerous physical and physiological effects long after the rape. Fatima (pictured on the left) was only 15years old when in front of her own mother she was brutally gang-raped. She soon found her self pregnant, but that would not be the end for Fatima, as she was “arrested by Sudanese police and charged with fornication” when she was seven months pregnant (The Age).
Since the dawn of the conflict pro-government militias have continually been accused of using sexually based attacks on women, as a means to terrorize, destabilize and demoralized the civilian population. The Sudanese army has recently criticized a UN report in March which accused soldiers of raping women and girls.
In a report issued April 7, 2008, Five Years On – No Justice for Sexual Violence in Darfur, HRW lays out clear recommendations for both the government of Sudan, rebel forces and aid agencies. Some of the reports recommendations include; the Sudanese government taking a clear stand against sexual assault and rape, the inclusion of female investigators, firewood patrols, better training, awareness and prevention.
The mass scale of rape and sexual assault in Sudan, as in other conflict ridden nations, must be taken seriously and dealt a heavy hand. The impunity must end, and the protection and rebuilding of lives must begin. For the use of rape leaves lasting long term effects on just on the victim, but their families, and community as it erodes the social framework of nations.
