This Thursday is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. While we celebrate all that we are thankful for, women and girls in Darfur continue to be targets of sexual and gender based violence. Over the past decade, rape has been used as a tool of war by the Sudan armed forces, allied militias and other belligerents in Darfur to terrorize women and their communities. Today, Darfuri women and girls are increasingly targets of opportunistic violence that flourishes in Darfur’s environment of widespread insecurity, continuing violent clashes, and near total impunity.
Women from Kalma IDP camp in Darfur
During the height of direct attacks on villages by the Sudan Armed Forces and allied janjaweed militias, women and girls were often specifically targeted with brutal sexual violence. In a report by Amnesty International, a Darfuri woman recounted her horrific experience:
“When we tried to escape they shot more children. They raped women; I saw many cases of Janjawid raping women and girls. They are happy when they rape. They sing when they rape and they tell that we are just slaves and that they can do with us how they wish.”
Such mass targeting of women and girls is not about sexual desire; it is fundamentally about control and power. Sexual and gender based violence is often intended not only to physically injure women, but also to humiliate and emotionally scar women and their families and communities.
Currently most incidents of sexual and gender based violence are concentrated on the outskirts of camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), where 1 out every 3 Darfuri civilians have fled to seek refuge from violence. With continued restrictions on its movement and operations, UNAMID has been unable to provide full security in areas around IDP camps. Women face an especially high risk for sexual and gender based violence whenever they travel outside camps, which they often must do to gather firewood, plant crops, or collect water. The Sudanese government also severely restricts the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide medical and psychosocial services that would assist survivors of sexual violence.
The perpetrators of rape and other forms of violence against women do so with near total impunity. Rape and other forms of violence against women often go unreported since women who admit to being attacked face harassment and their claims are often dismissed by authorities. Women also often fear the social stigma that can surround sexual violence – at worst, victims who admit attacks can be shunned by their husbands or families.
In the parts of Sudan where Sharia law is practiced, rape is defined as the offense of zina — intercourse between unmarried men and women – that is performed without consent. If a woman is unable to prove she did not consent, she is at risk of being charged with zina for having confessed to sexual intercourse outside of marriage. To prosecute a man for rape, Sudanese courts often require to the sexual act to have been witnessed by four men – making such prosecutions nearly impossible. Under Sudan’s Sharia law, unmarried women who are convicted of zina receive 100 lashes, and married women risk being sentenced to death by stoning. All of these factors make the reporting of sexual and gender based crimes, let alone prosecuting them, very rare.
The international community must do more to prevent and respond to violence against women in Dafur. To reduce the level of sexual and gender based violence in Darfur, the social stigma against victims must be overcome. While the Joint UN/AU Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has conducted several training exercises aimed at reducing the social stigma of sexual violence, these must be expanded throughout the region. UNAMID can also reduce the possibility of violence against women occurring by increasing patrols surrounding IDP camps, in consultation with IDP women about when and where patrols would be most beneficial. The international community should also promote women’s leadership in Sudanese civil society and Darfuri women’s full participation in the Darfur peace negotiations. Any lasting peace must be crafted with the full inclusion of civil society stakeholders, including women.
As we celebrate with family and friends this Thanksgiving, the crisis in Darfur and grave challenges faced by women in Sudan will continue. The current environment of impunity for sexual and gender-based violence and other atrocities cannot be tolerated. On Thursday, we should not only give thanks, but renew our commitment to advocacy to protect and empower women across Sudan.
As violence increases in Darfur, the arms embargo – put in place by the UN Security Council five years ago to help reduce violence – is still a joke. 
