“Woman raped in front of son, on eve of International Women’s Day”
Radio Dabanga
March 7, 2012
Gereida IDP Camp, South Darfur
http://www.radiodabanga.org/node/26530
A woman was raped in front of her 11-year-old son by four men at gunpoint on Tuesday. She went out with her son to collect hay, a few kilometres away from the camp, when four gunmen grabbed the woman and raped her one by one, said a witness from Gereida camp in South Darfur. “Her son was just standing there, watching her and crying,” continued the witness. The men threatened to kill the boy if he didn’t hand over his mobile phone, but he refused anyway. On not managing to steal the phone, the men turned back to the woman and raped her again. The crime has shocked and angered local residents, who demand the attackers are caught. “The International Criminal Court is the same as those it criticises for being bystanders that do nothing,” a source said to Radio Dabanga. The incident has been reported to local police.
“Please remember us”
Displaced and refugee women from Darfur have asked the world not to forget them on the eve of International Women’s Day. The women from camps in Eastern Chad and displaced within Darfur since 2003, urge the UN Security Council and the international community to stop the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for the abuses committed against them. They ask for women who celebrate the day to work to stop the daily rapes, beatings, and detentions at the camps. The women appealed to women all over the world to stand with them at a time when their dignity is being undermined. “As the world celebrates International Women’s Day it must remember displaced women in Darfur that can not find security or protection,” said an activist from Kassab camp.
“Women need education”
Women in the camps should be congratulated on the occasion of International Women’s Day. They suffer in different ways on a daily basis, but much of it is down to ignorance within the family, said coordinator Halima Hamad from eastern Chad. Education for women is needed to counter ignorance and teach them their rights to fight against violence at home, or in society. The rapes suffered by women when collecting firewood or water are also spreading sexually transmitted infections, causing social exclusion and mental health issues. “I wish there can be peace so females can return to their homes and carry on with their education,” said Halima to Radio Dabanga.
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RAPE AS A CONTINUING WEAPON OF WAR IN DARFUR: Reports, bibliography of studies, a compendium of incidents
Sexual violence and rape in Darfur have ceased to command the attention they once had—not because this brutal epidemic has ended but because of the absence of human rights reporting, news reporting, and the intimidation of humanitarian organizations ensures that we hear very little about one of the most brutal features of the Darfur genocide. This brief provides [1] a select bibliography of reports and studies examining the realities of rape and sexual violence in Darfur (the earliest is Amnesty International,“Sudan, Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War” [July 19, 2004] http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR54/076/2004 ]); [2] an overview of what was already evident of these realities by mid-2005;[3] a lengthy compendium of reports of specific incidents of sexual violence and rape. This compendium is a work in progress, extending back into report archives, and extending grimly forward as rape continues to be reported on a nearly daily basis by Radio Dabanga, despite various assertions that Darfur is settling into a more “peaceful” state. There can be no possible claim to definitive figures; but the evidence assembled here makes clear than many tens of thousands of Darfuri girls and women have been raped over the past 10 years:
Eric Reeves
March 4, 2012