BMJ  2004;329:251 (31 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7460.251-b

News

Rape victims in Sudan face life of stigma, says report

London

Girls as young as eight are being raped and used as sex slaves in Darfur, says Amnesty International in a report published last week.

At the launch of its report the charity called for medical personnel to be sent immediately to care for survivors, warning, "Rape has a devastating and ongoing impact on the health of women and girls, and survivors now face a lifetime of stigma and marginalisation from their own families and communities."

The rapes are part of what the charity describes in the report as "a pattern of systematic and unlawful attacks on civilians in North, West and South Darfur states, by a government-sponsored militia and by the government army." The attacks are in response to the insurgency of two armed political groups mainly of Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnicity.

Pro-government Arab militia are accused of ethnic cleansing of the region's black African population. As a result of the conflict, some one million people have fled their homes and 50 000 people have been killed. Many are living in camps in the region's main towns, but there is not enough food, water, or medicine.

The hundreds of recorded rape cases were "just the tip of the iceberg," said Amnesty International researcher Benedicte Goderieux. "Given the cultural taboo associated with rape, women are reluctant to report it to the few medical workers present in refugee camps, which can lead to further medical complications of injuries sustained during the rape."

The report warns: "Women who have become pregnant as a result of rape often suffer complications before, during and after giving birth, because of the physical injuries resulting from assault. When giving birth, women who have been raped are prone to the problem of fistula and lose control of the bladder or bowel functions. They become isolated as a result of their incontinence."

"Fear of exclusion is frequently the greatest concern," Dr Petra Clarke of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture told the BMJ.

She said that although the short term, physical effects of rape normally diminish within 10 days, the long term consequences can be far reaching. As well as the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and psychological damage, a real danger was social isolation.

Medical facilities to detect HIV or help affected women and girls are lacking, because agencies are overwhelmed by the nutritional emergency and difficulties in access, logistics, and capacity, she said. "The consequences of this lack of medical support for rape survivors are severe."

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Darfur: Rape as a Weapon of War—Sexual Violence and its Consequences is accessible at http://web.amnesty.org/library

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Rapid Responses:

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women and children: victims of war

Laxmi Vilas Ghimire
bmj.com, 5 Aug 2004 [Full text]