Stop rape and sexual violence in Darfur

Amsterdam----Rape of women and girls has been a consistent element in the violence that has displaced almost two million people in Darfur. The stories of rape survivors are a horrific illustration of the daily reality of people in Darfur.

Rather than care, the women and children who are subjected to sexual violence receive rejection. The horrific practice we have seen in Darfur of imprisoning the victims of rape rather than the perpetrators adds to an already appalling pattern of neglect and abuse. However tragic and devastating the consequences, rape has not received the attention that the massiveness of the crime nor the gravity of its impact would call for. This has to change.

Between October 2004 and mid-February 2005, MSF doctors treated almost 500 women and girls who were raped in Darfur. MSF believes that these numbers are only a fraction of the total number of victims because many women are reluctant to report the crime or seek treatment. Almost a third (28%) of the victims who sought treatment from MSF reported that they were raped more than one time, either by single or multiple assailants. In more than half the cases, the rape was accompanied by additional physical abuse; MSF received numerous testimonies from women who were beaten with sticks, whips or axes before, during or after the act of rape. Some of the raped women were visibly pregnant at the time of the assault, anywhere between five and eight months pregnant.

According to MSF's data, the majority of cases of sexual violence occurs when women leave the relative safety of villages and displaced camps to carry activities indispensable of the survival of the families, like search for firewood or water.

81% of victims in Darfur report that their rapists are militia or military who use their weapons to force the assault. In Darfur, and in other conflicts such as DRC and Burundi, rape has been a regular feature of warfare. It is a deliberate tool of war, used to destabilize and threaten a part of the civilian population, often a particular group.

On the eve of International Women's Day, MSF urged warring parties in conflicts around the world to end this form of violence against civilians, which is in total contravention of international humanitarian law. Local authorities should not tolerate this insidious crime and must end the impunity of the perpetrators. MSF calls on local government and other health care providers to ensure full and appropriate treatment for victims of sexual violence and to ensure an end to the stigma and rejection faced by victims of rape.