This is evidenced by worsening conflict and violence in Sudan, which has devastated the number of suicides among women to escape the brutal cases of rape by marauding armed militia. With the current trends indicating a worsening security situation, many women and their children are fleeing their homes amid increased exposure to sexual violence.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, more than 14 million people have been displaced by widespread hunger and disease, along with the threat of sexual assault.
The independent international fact-finding mission of the UN for Sudan has pointed out an alarming trend: targeting women by the paramilitary forces. Chairman Mohamed Chande Othman underlined the dire situation: “Women and girls are abducted for sexual slavery, and there is no safe haven within the country for them.”.
“From the very beginning of this war, women were targeted with sexual violence. The support forces and militias have been entering homes in Khartoum, the capital, and have raped and sexually violated hundreds, if not thousands, of women, and the atrocities continue unabated,”
Said Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa.
The use of sexual violence in Sudan is not new; it has been a continuous characteristic over the past two decades and has escalated drastically since the start of the current conflict. “Our bodies are used as instruments and weapons of war,” Al-Karib said. “It is heartbreakingly sad to see women in central Sudan taking their lives as a means of escape from the agony of gang rape and torture at the hands of armed groups.”
She further emphasized the extent of the war crimes this militia is perpetrating by showing the devastating consequences that this conflict is causing regarding infrastructure and how massive atrocities across the nation are ongoing.
All types of violence are being poured upon the civilians of Sudan, especially women and children, who are bearing the brunt of this crisis. Infrastructure has been decimated, homes have been looted, markets razed, and civilians killed most indiscriminately. Violence and detention also targeted more vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities. It is a truly horrific situation,” Al-Karib concluded.
