Sudan Events – Reports
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has documented attacks on medical facilities and patterns of sexual violence, including devastating measures taken to cope with the situation, as well as the killing of fathers who attempted to protect their daughters from rape in Al-Jazirah State.
On Tuesday, the UNFPA released a report on the situation in Al-Jazirah State.
A consultant for the UNFPA and a healthcare worker in East Al-Jazirah shared shocking accounts of sexual violence in recent weeks, stating, “Some fathers were killed while trying to protect their daughters from rape.”
Another consultant revealed, “The level of stigma attached to rape survivors and their families has reached a point where many resort to destructive measures to cope with the situation.”
Victims of sexual violence reportedly flee and hide “because the stigma threatens them with suicide as a means of cleansing their shame.”
According to the report, some girls said their sisters, fathers, and uncles provided them with knives and instructed them to “kill themselves if they were threatened with rape.”
Some women and girls also reported seeing “women throwing themselves into the river to avoid abuse by armed men.”
In a displaced persons camp in Kassala, women shared with the UNFPA warnings from their families before leaving their homes: “If we see armed fighters approaching the village and attempting to rape you, we will kill you ourselves to protect you before it happens.”
The UNFPA reported that at least six healthcare facilities have been attacked since the violence escalated in East and South Al-Jazirah, significantly disrupting essential services and forcing patients to be relocated to alternative centers.
The fund also received reports of widespread looting, threats, and attacks on homes, leading to sudden and large-scale displacement.
Since the escalation of violence in Al-Jazirah, the UNFPA has provided over 1,200 sexual and reproductive health consultations through five mobile teams in Al-Gedaref. Plans are underway to send a health team to Al-Butana and a mobile unit for health, psychosocial, and social support to Al-Faw Hospital.
The fund disclosed that clinical post-rape supplies have been provided to hospitals in Al-Faw, Halfa Al-Jadida, and Khashm Al-Qirbah.
