ALBAWABA - Entering its fourth month, the war in Sudan has torn through the country beyond repair, and women and teen girls have had their fair share of cases of conflict-related sexual violence.
Sulaima AlKhalifi, head of the Combating Violence against Women and Children Unit in Sudan, and Amira Osman, the Chairwoman of the "No to Women's Oppression" Initiative, stated that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have beaten a mother and abducted her two girls in broad daylight.
"Residents of the area mobilized all forces possible to help the girls, only for the RSF militants to drop the girls off far from where the residents have gathered, five hours before they were abducted," Osman said.
"They are being abducted in broad daylight and are getting enslaved and raped" Osman added.
AlKhalifi warned of the rising number of sexual violence cases against women around Sudan. "The total number of registered sexual violence cases in Khartoum has reached 42, while 25 cases were reported in Nyala, in addition to 21 cases in El Geneina area, all conflict-related sexual violence cases".
AlKhalifi expressed her lamentation and warned of the steep rising of women and teenage girls enforced disappearances and the increase in conflict-related sexual violence and how it does not match the number of reported cases in the Combating Violence against Women and Children Unit.
Source: Combating Violence against Women and Children Unit
AlKhalifi said that 9 of the 18 Sudanese states are witnessing frequent cases of sexual violence and exploitation, "There are testimonies from persons, eyewitnesses, and protection committees" AlKhalifi said. However, unfortunately, there is no official documentation.
On 19 June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said his office had received reports of sexual violence against at least 53 women and girls in the Sudanese conflict, saying between 18 and 20 women had been raped in one attack.
Türk added that he is "taken aback by allegations of sexual violence, especially those related to rape cases," noting that the perpetrators in "almost all cases" were RSF members.
