The war in Sudan has reached a crisis point for women and girls, with some forced to have sex with soldiers in exchange for food.
A recent report from The Guardian tells a harrowing story of a 37-year-old woman from the Sudanese city of Omdurman, who said she needed to access food to feed her 18-year-old daughter and her elderly parents.
With soldiers from the Sudanese army guarding factories where most of the city’s food is, the woman said there was no other way to get food: she was forced to have sex with these men.
The Guardian spoke to other victims in similar situations to the woman, who are bearing the brunt of the country’s conflict as it enters its 16th month.
The report speaks of not only the looming threat of famine across the country, but the devastating impact it is having on the safety of women and girls in Sudan.
What’s going on in Sudan?
Sudan has faced instability for several years now, especially after the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. He had been in power for 30 years.
Emerging from the end of al-Bashir’s 30-year authoritarian reign were two militia groups: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In April 2023, the power struggle between the two groups culminated in the outbreak of war that began in the country’s capital, Khartoum, and subsequently spread to the rest of the country.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the 15 months of war. About 10 milion people have been displaced from their homes, according to reports from the UNHCR, with about 7.7 million internally displaced and more than 2 million fleeing to neighbouring countries, including Egypt, Chad and Ethiopia.
Just recently, an attack in the southeastern state of Sennar in June displaced 136,000 from their homes.
Famine and the impact on women
According to a recent report from the UN, half the population of Sudan are facing crisis levels of hunger. This is about 26 million living in food insecurity.
About 8.5 million people are on the verge of famine, and 755,000 people are already living in famine conditions.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that hunger and famine is having a devastating impact on pregnant women: an estimated 203,000 pregnant women are on the verge of famine, meanwhile, 18,000 pregnant women are in famine conditions.
Sexual violence
The UNFPA has described the war in Sudan as “a war on the bodies of women and girls”.
As reported in The Guardian, the issues of food insecurity and gender-based violence are doubly impacting Sudan’s women and girls.
According to the UNFPA, about 6.7 million people are at risk of gender-based violence in Sudan, with the organisation reaching about 600,000 people who have suffered gender-based violence during the conflict.
But the UNFPA fear that, because sexual violence so often goes underreported or unreported, there are more victims in Sudan who have not come forward.
The UNFPA have 64 safe spaces across Sudan to support women and girls who are victim-survivors of sexual war crimes. These spaces provide medical support, shelter and psychological services.