At gunpoint, Fatima (a pseudonym) faced the marriage of her 12-year-old minor daughter to a member of the Rapid Support Forces.
Regarding their suffering, Fatima says – to Al Jazeera Net – we were beaten, humiliated, and oppressed, and all our possessions were stolen, even the doors and windows. They did not leave anything. They married my daughter at gunpoint. She chose to agree to that for fear that she would be raped. A member of the Rapid Support Forces married her for 35 days and left her after that. We know where he went. My daughter was not the only one who was exposed to this. Many women and girls in the neighborhood were married off at gunpoint by the Rapid Support.
Rape and murder
From Fatima to Rawya Abdel Qader, who tells another chapter of their suffering as women from Rapid Support violations during their presence in the Halfaya area in the city of Bahri, where Rawya lost one of her relatives after members of the Rapid Support shot her, and her husband was beaten.
She says – to Al Jazeera Net – we tasted all kinds of torture from the Rapid Support, they practiced intimidation and torture, they broke into homes at night to rape women.
For its part, the Unit for Combating Violence against Women said that women and girls in Sudan are living in tragic conditions as a result of the war and the horrific violations committed – and are still being committed – by the “Rapid Support” elements in Al-Jazira, Darfur, Khartoum and other areas of the country, especially the sexual violence that has been observed as part of their tactics. Warfare since the start of the war in mid-April 2023.
Big challenges
The unit’s director, Salima Ishaq, told Al Jazeera Net that women’s exposure to assault has a major impact on women’s physical and psychological health, especially if there are no therapeutic interventions after women are exposed to assault and sexual slavery, which makes them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, and exposes reproductive health to great danger.
She added: There are women who have not received health services and have not been reached. From a psychological standpoint, treating trauma in itself is a major challenge in light of the ongoing war. Interventions exist, but they are not on the scale of the crisis.
Salima revealed that about 331 women have been raped since the start of the war by the Rapid Support Forces, which use sexual violence as a weapon against civilians with the aim of ethnic or ideological humiliation and forced displacement.
Search for safety
While a number of women were forced to flee in search of safety, other hardships surrounded their lives.
Doctor and activist in the field of mental and reproductive health, Fatima Arabi, tells Al Jazeera Net that war has repercussions on women, including increasing responsibilities for them to play a productive role for the family and being forced to work, sometimes with hard work that may affect them physically.
She added, “Pregnant women may be physically affected by the lack of quality and quantity of food, the lack of follow-up and the difficulty of accessing it. On the other hand, the psychological impact on pregnant women is due to the hormonal changes that occur to them during pregnancy, which increases their levels of anxiety, stress, depression, psychological burnout, sleep disturbance and loss of health.” “Appetite.”
Complex situation
For his part, Director of the Safe Motherhood Unit at the National Reproductive Health Program, Safaa Bakhit, said that the war led to a severe shortage in health services and destroyed a large number of institutions, with the displacement of most health personnel from areas occupied by the Rapid Support militias, which targeted health personnel in particular.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Safaa said that these events created a very complex situation that contributed to increasing the suffering of women in particular, and with the waves of displacement from Rapid Support militia areas, long-distance walking, and food shortages, there was a major impact on pregnant women and an increase in anemia rates, the direct cause of many. Of complications.
The official at the Safe Motherhood Unit said that the increased pressure on health services in the safe states has affected the pregnant care service. There are also a number of pregnant women in shelters, and the Ministry is making a great effort with the help of organizations to provide services to them, but the increase in the number of displaced people makes these services insufficient.
Safaa confirmed the increase in deaths of pregnant women in the Rapid Support areas, but due to the difficult security situation, there are no accurate statistics, noting that the most affected places are the areas where the Rapid Support is located in Khartoum, Al-Jazira, and the states of Darfur.
health care
Regarding the federal health efforts, Safaa Bakhit said that the Ministry worked to provide birth aids and midwives in shelter camps, connect the camps to emergency pregnancy and childbirth institutions, support the treatment of displaced pregnant women, provide childbirth services and caesarean sections for free, and train cadres to provide pregnant care services, psychological support, and clinical treatment of rape cases. And sexual violence.
For his part, the Minister of Welfare and Social Development in Khartoum State, Siddiq Freni, revealed that a number of children were born as a result of rape cases committed on women by Rapid Support.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Freni said: It is not possible to declare statistics on the number of children, due to social considerations that are not circulated in the open domains.
He continued: We deal with great caution despite the silent pain that the victims suffer.
Psychological support
A number of women live under the psychological impact of sexual violence and its repercussions. Mental health activist Fatima Arabi tells Al Jazeera Net that when a woman is exposed to this experience, she feels oppressed, and this incident may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, which may worsen into depression, anxiety disorder, drug abuse for the purpose of escape, and thinking about ending one’s life and committing suicide.
She added, “The scale of the current crisis and the repercussions of the war have a very significant impact on the mental and physical health of all segments of society, but the most affected are women and children, both physically and psychologically, and they need support at all levels.”