Khartoum. In war-torn Sudan, women are being forced to have sex with soldiers to feed their families. This information was given in a report by The Guardian. More than two dozen women who fled from Omdurman city of Sudan said that having sex with soldiers is the only way for them to get food or goods, which they can sell to raise money for their family’s sustenance.
One woman who spoke to the Guardian said they were exploited in all the factories in the city that stock food. “Both my parents are very old and sick. I never let my daughter go out to look for food. I went to the soldiers because that was the only way to get food – they were everywhere in the factory area,” one woman said. This woman was forced to have sex with soldiers at a meat-processing factory in May last year.
The abuse of women reportedly began soon after the country’s civil war broke out, with the country’s army facing off against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Reports of rape by armed men emerged within days of the conflict starting on April 15 last year. Thousands of people have been killed in Sudan’s ongoing war so far, with some estimates putting the death toll at as high as 150,000. The war has created the world’s worst displacement crisis – leaving more than 11 million people homeless and bringing the country to the brink of famine.
Several women have come forward to share harrowing stories of RSF fighters systematically sexually abusing them in areas under their control. Women told the Guardian that soldiers have even demanded sex in exchange for access to deserted homes, where it is still possible to loot goods to sell in local markets.
One woman said she was allowed to take food, kitchen items and perfume from empty houses after having sex with soldiers. “What I went through is indescribable, I wouldn’t wish this on any enemy… I did it only because I wanted to feed my children,” she said.
Residents of the town claimed they had seen soldiers bring women to abandoned houses, where they were made to stand in a queue as the soldiers chose the ones “they liked”. “A lot of women come and stand in a queue outside our neighbourhood. I sometimes hear screams, but what can you do? Nothing,” said one resident. A soldier, who denied ever doing this to a woman himself, said he had seen his colleagues do it, which was very bad. “The sins that have happened in this town can never be forgiven,” he said.
Tags: Sudan conflict
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 22, 2024, 19:22 IST