The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. 

It said that the assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.

Since the start of armed conflict in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces and the RSF on April 15, the RSF and predominantly Arab allied militias have carried out repeated attacks on towns and villages in the West Darfur state. These attacks have mainly targeted areas inhabited by one of the main non-Arab communities, the Massalit. 

Attacks in the city of El Geneina began on April 24 and continued through late June, causing numerous civilian deaths and injuries, and forcing over 366,000 people to flee to nearby Chad. The United Nations Security Council should urgently hold a briefing by the special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.

“The Rapid Support Forces and allied militias appear responsible for a staggering number of rapes and other war crimes during their attack on El Geneina,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “The UN Security Council should show those responsible for abuses that the world is watching by taking urgent steps to bring an end to these atrocities.”

In late July, Human Rights Watch interviewed in person in Chad nine women and a 15-year-old girl from El Geneina who are survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Four, including the girl, were raped by multiple men. Human Rights Watch also interviewed four women who witnessed sexual violence or the immediate aftermath, along with five service providers, including medical workers who had supported sexual violence victims in El Geneina. Based on survivors’ personal experiences and incidents they also witnessed, as well as information shared with service providers, including locations where the incidents occurred, Human Rights Watch documented 78 victims, or survivors, of rape between April 24 and June 26.

Survivors who spoke to Human Rights Watch said that between one and six armed assailants carried out the sexual violence. Most groups of assailants included men wearing full or partial RSF uniforms and some in civilian clothes. In many instances, they arrived in RSF-marked vehicles. One woman recognized her assailant as an Arab resident of El Geneina.

In almost all instances reported to Human Rights Watch, those responsible for the rapes also committed other grave abuses including beatings, killings, looting, or burning homes, businesses or government buildings. 

The survivors all said that the attackers explicitly mentioned their ethnic identity and used ethnic slurs about the Massalit or non-Arabs more generally.

Since 2019, the RSF and allied militias have recurrently fought Massalit armed groups in West Darfur. Historical grievances based on ethnicity, including the Sudanese government’s failure to address land access and ownership, have also fueled tensions. A lack of justice for past violations of rights and the proliferation of weapons, along with the absence of any security sector reform, have added to the strained climate. During then-president Omar al-Bashir’s ethnic cleansing campaign in Darfur that began in 2003, government forces and so-called Janjaweed militias, the precursor to the Rapid Support Forces, frequently attacked non-Arab communities, including the Massalit.

On the first day of attacks in El Geneina on April 24, five armed Arab men in civilian attire entered the home of a 20-year-old university student and four other women in the Jabal neighborhood. They demanded to know the women’s tribe. “We lied and said Bargu,” she said. “But they said, ‘No, you are Massalit, you are Nuba [a term used in Sudan to mean either “rebels” or non-Arabs].’… One raped me while the others waited outside. Then another came in and raped me.” 

She said that over two months later, she remained haunted by the attack: “I cry often, and when I cry, my throat hurts. I can’t sleep, I can’t feel normal. When I am walking outside, I keep getting lost. I can’t find my way when I try to go anywhere.”

In four cases the assailants explicitly mentioned the women’s human rights work and in one case the work of her husband, suggesting they knew who they were assaulting. 

Only one of the survivors interviewed received some emergency post-rape care in El Geneina. During the peak of the violence, the RSF and allied militias looted and burned medical facilities and offices of nongovernmental organizations that provided emotional and psychological care to sexual violence survivors. 

The Women’s Future Organisation, a Darfuri organization, reported that only 24 of 103 victims in incidents of rape that it had recorded had received subsequent medical services. Seventy-three of the incidents had occurred in West Darfur.

International humanitarian law, called the laws of war, prohibits parties to an armed conflict from deliberately harming civilians. Common article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and customary international humanitarian law, both of which apply to all warring parties in Sudan, prohibit rape and other forms of sexual violence. Rape committed by combatants can constitute a form of torture. Rape and other sexual violence committed in the context of an armed conflict is a war crime, and if part of a widespread or systematic attack by a government or armed group on a civilian population, can amount to crimes against humanity. 

International standards call for the government to provide risk mitigation for gender-based violence from the onset of crisis response, including clinical management of rape and other comprehensive services for survivors of violence. 

Human Rights Watch on August 11 emailed a summary of findings for comment to Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF commander, but at the time of publication has not received a response. 

Following an August 1 call from the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten to prevent and address sexual violence, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rahim Dagalo, the RSF deputy commander, acknowledged the gravity of sexual violence in the context of the armed conflict. The RSF issued a statement following the meeting that “assured the RSF’s full cooperation with the UN in investigating any allegations of human rights violations.” 

At the UN Human Rights Council in September, all countries should support the establishment of an international inquiry to independently investigate and preserve evidence of serious abuses in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan that will help ensure that those responsible will be held to account.

“Concerned governments need to be committing more resources for sexual violence survivors in Darfur,” Wille said. “Brutal accounts of rape and the terrible consequences of those crimes should mobilize donors to meet survivors’ needs, and to back steps to facilitate the delivery of justice.”

By Dianabasi Effiong and Abiodun Azi, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Parental neglect is one of the leading known factors that encourage rape, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in Nigeria.

Others include caregiver factors, family factors, child factors, state of mental health and environment factors.

Experts also say that factors that foster rape include schools, the Police, the judiciary and excessive consumption of alcohol.

Other majorly known factors boosting the spread of rape in our society include frustration and indecent dressing.

Generally, rape is an act involving a man, a woman or a girl, with the man having forceful sexual intercourse with a woman or girl. It can be vice versa.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines rape as a form of sexual assault], while the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) include rape in their definition of sexual assault; they term rape a form of sexual violence.

Similarly, the UNFPA defines SGBV as “any act of violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, girls, men, and boys, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.’’

Its report in May 2023 highlights that in Nigeria, 31 per cent of women have experienced physical violence since age 15.

“In 2017, 14 per cent of women experienced physical violence. Most of this violence is perpetrated by an intimate partner.’’

In November 2022, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, says the ministry received complaints of over 10,726 cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence  within the time.

This becomes worrisome and poses many questions.

Can Nigeria deal with the public concern around nagging issues of increasing cases of rape and SGBV?

To discerning stakeholders, gender-sensitive crusaders, activists, government agencies, the Police and the judiciary these cases are disturbing.

In her research at schools in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, Mrs Temidayo Adeyanju, Ministry Administrator, Women of Wisdom, an NGO, identifies parental neglect as the highest contributory factor to SGBV among the students.

Adeyanju tells the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that insecurity, financial constraints and gender discrimination also promote these vices in the schools.

“Cultural norms, peer pressure, lack of awareness, inadequate policies and legislation to prevent and address the issue are other causal agents.

“One significant factor that has led to sexual and gender-based violence in schools within Mushin LGA is the perpetuation of traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

“These stereotypes often perpetuate unequal power dynamics between genders, leading to discrimination, harassment and violence.

“Another factor is the lack of effective policies and laws to prevent and address gender-based violence in schools,’’ she says.

Adeyanju says  the lack of awareness among students, parents and school administrators about the issue, which lead to a culture of silence and impunity, also posed problems.

According to experts, rape is the unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl without her consent, or with her consent if such consent is obtained forcefully or through threats or intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm or by means of false and fraudulent representation.

In Section 357 of the Criminal Code Act, applicable in the Southern part of Nigeria, particularly at section 358 of the Act, Sanctions for such acts include imprisonment for life.

Similarly, Section 282 of the Penal Code as applicable in the Northern part of Nigeria provides sanctions for perpetrators.

Adeyanju says adopting a multi-faceted approach to curb the existence of the menace in those schools was crucial.

Such approach should include, education on gender equality and non-violent conflict resolution, the establishment of clear policies and laws to prevent and address violence and the provision of support and counseling services for survivors.

She says it is essential to empower survivors to speak out about their experiences and create a safe environment to report incidents of violence without fear of retaliation or stigma.

She says this can be achievable through the implementation of reporting mechanisms and the provision of legal and psychological support to survivors.

According to Adeyanju, in terms of managing victims, it is crucial to provide them with comprehensive support, including medical attention, counseling, and legal assistance.

Survivors should also be empowered to take control of their lives and make decisions that were in their best interest.

However, the SOS Children’s Villages, an NGO, says: “ Although GBV cases also happen in schools, we regard those schools as avenues where strategic change can begin to reach the wider society when addressing SGBV issues.

“The school also has critical roles to play in the prevention and response mechanism.

“Schools can serve as protective spaces for children, acting as an important arena for broader social change to end violence in and out of the schoolyard.

“School curricula should be designed to integrate gender issues such as gender-based violence, rights and power dynamics which can empower students and teachers.

“Laws that cover issues around children’s violence – the Child’s Rights Act (CRA) and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), should be enforced.

“Teachers and school-based management receive specialised training that can help promote gender-sensitive and inclusive classrooms and develop positive forms of discipline in schools.’’

It advocates  for “a community accountability system including some community child protection committees, with various stakeholders’’ as well as “awareness for parents on GBV within the community’’.

It also suggests  `Support/Help for victims, survivors of violence among students in secondary schools and other persons in the community’’.

“On the part of the government, collaborating with the private sector has provided helplines and survivor support services to respond to issues of sexual violence,’’ It says.

Also, Mrs Bose Ironsi, Executive Director, Women Right and Advocacy Health Project, explains  that SGBV in secondary schools can  have significant negative impacts on students.

She says that these include physical and emotional trauma, decreased academic performance, increased absenteeism, and dropping out of school.

“It can also perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes and contribute to the cycle of violence.

“It is important to have comprehensive policies and programmes that promote gender equality, address harmful gender stereotypes, provide support services for survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.

“Students, teachers, parents, and the wider community all have a role to play in preventing and addressing SGBV in schools.

“SGBV is a serious problem in secondary schools. It is important to take steps to prevent and address it, to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all students,’’ Ironsi says.

Also, President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hanan Buhari, laments the lack of enforcement of laws against rape and other gender-related violence in Nigeria.

She makes the assertion at her Foundation’s inaugural symposium on sexual violence, which held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in 2022.

She says in spite of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) 2015 and various states’ Violence Against Persons Prohibition Laws, “enforcement of such laws is still sorely lacking in far too many cases in Nigeria’’.

“A 2018 Statistical report on Women and Men in Nigeria using data obtained from the Nigeria Police Force and Ministry of Justice revealed that the rape incidences for women and girls are on an increasing trend from 63 per cent in 2015 to 72.1 per cent in 2016 and 69.3 per cent in 2017.

“According to data from Nigeria’s National Anti-Trafficking Agency, only about 32 cases were reported between 2019 and 2020 for fear of stigmatisation,’’ she says.

For her, rape survivors must have immediate access to a health clinic that can provide emergency medical care, including HIV prevention and treatment and counselling.

“When a victim of violence files a police report, she must have faith that she will receive justice and that the perpetrator will be punished.

“In addition, an adolescent boy in school, learning about health and sexuality, must be taught that coercion, violence and discrimination against girls are all unacceptable,’’ she says.

Proffering solutions, experts have severally stated that a holistic approach that engages the governments, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, educational institutions, the victims and their survivors, can be adopted to prevent rape, SGBV in Nigeria.

They say that the culture of silence in cases of SGBV, particularly rape, has persisted for a long time in our society.

Regarded as a taboo, “victims don’t talk about it’’ (rape), but were, rather “being forced to treat it in a manner that the culprit would not be severely dealt with according to the law’’.

They also say that if our lawmakers will continually provide the necessary enabling environment for people to report, encourage investigation and try suspects in spite of the intricate legal system, the `rape culture’ will be discouraged.

Furthermore, it warms the heart to realise that, with an array of opinions, ongoing conversations around dealing with the challenge of rape and SGBV, at the family, community, national and global levels, these challenges are surmountable.

Stakeholders can continually tackle the  culture of rape and SGBV. Survivors should not to keep quiet while perpetrators to have their way. (NANFeatures).