Darfur: Fears of Increasing Sexual Violence Cases

Sudan Events – Agencies

A women’s rights advocate expressed concerns on Tuesday about the increasing sexual violence against women in the Darfur region due to the lack of security, following the rape of 16 women in Kalma camp in recent days.

Serious Challenges

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated in his latest report on Sudan that victims of sexual violence face serious challenges in accessing timely medical, psychological, social, and legal support, particularly preventive treatment, due to the collapse of the healthcare system.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune, human rights advocate Noon Kashkook said, “Women in Darfur have suffered from sexual violence since 2003 as a result of conflict and insecurity, which has worsened after the outbreak of the current war.”

She pointed out that elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have committed acts of sexual violence in El Geneina and Nyala, in West and South Darfur states.

Kashkook reported that victims of sexual violence struggle to receive medical care after the shutdown of the Turkish hospital in Nyala, which was the only facility capable of handling rape cases.

Documenting Rape Cases

Meanwhile, Adeeba Ibrahim Al-Sayed, a member of the Omdurman branch of the preliminary committee of the Doctors’ Syndicate, told Sudan Tribune that 16 cases of rape had been documented in Kalma camp in South Darfur in recent days. The victims were girls and women aged between 16 and 30.

She added that two of the 16 cases involved elderly women, who suffered severe bleeding that required emergency treatment at Nyala hospital.

Armed Perpetrators

Adeeba stated that all rape incidents occurred while the victims were heading to the market or collecting firewood.

She mentioned that the perpetrators were armed men wearing military uniforms, but she did not specify which faction they belonged to.

South Darfur has been under the control of the Rapid Support Forces since October 2023.

Hundreds of families have fled to Kalma camp since the outbreak of the war, joining approximately 300,000 people who have been living there since the Darfur conflict erupted in 2003.