Several women have come forward with harrowing stories of sexual abuse by RSF fighters
In war-torn Sudan, women are being forced to have sex with soldiers in order to get food to feed their families, a report by The Guardian has found. More than two dozen women who fled the Sudanese city of Omdurman said sex with soldiers was the only way they could get food or goods they could sell to raise money to feed their families.
One woman who spoke to the Guardian said the attacks took place in factories in the city where food is stored. “My parents are both too old and sick and I never let my daughter go out to look for food. I went to the soldiers and that was the only way I could get food – they were everywhere in the factory area,” said a woman who was forced to have sex with soldiers at a meat processing plant in May last year.
The attacks reportedly began shortly after a civil war broke out in the country, pitting the country’s military against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Reports of rapes by gunmen emerged within days of the conflict, which began on April 15 last year.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates putting the death toll as high as 150,000. The war has created the world's worst displacement crisis, with more than 11 million people uprooted, and brought the country to the brink of famine.
Several women have come forward with harrowing stories of RSF fighters systematically sexually abusing them in areas under their control. The soldiers have also demanded sex in exchange for access to abandoned homes where it is still possible to loot items to sell in local markets, the women told The Guardian.
One woman said she was allowed to take food, kitchenware and perfumes from empty homes after having sex with soldiers. “What I went through is indescribable, I wouldn’t wish it on an enemy… I only did it because I wanted to feed my children,” she said.
Residents of the town claimed they saw soldiers taking women to abandoned houses where they had to stand in line while the soldiers picked out those who “they thought were pretty”. “A lot of women come and stand in line outside our neighbourhood. Sometimes I hear screams, but what can you do? Nothing,” one resident said.
Another woman told the Guardian that she once refused to have sex with the soldier, who tortured her and burned her legs. The 21-year-old said she had sex with soldiers in exchange for permission to loot homes for food and supplies, but when she refused again, the soldiers held her down and burned her legs.
One soldier, who denied ever attacking a woman, said he had seen his colleagues. “It's terrible. The amount of sins in this city can never be forgiven,” he said.
