Sudanese women are not ‘collateral damage’ says SIHA Network

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA Network) issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the violence inflicted on women during Sudan’s war, demanding that perpetrators be held accountable for the “rampant sexual violence” spreading across the capital of Khartoum. 

In its statement, SIHA* condemned the widespread sexual violence committed against Sudanese women since the outbreak of the war in April, urging for international assistance and accountability.  

This past week, one emergency room received over 10 cases of sexual violence in a single day. Yet, many are too scared to report or too young to comprehend what has been done to them. They pointed to the lack of safety in El Turki Hospital in South Khartoum, as the RSF controls this hospital fully and thus the risk of assault would be “extremely high.” 

A 21-year-old survivor from El Kalakla said: “I am four months pregnant… I cannot even count how many times I have been raped.” 

The statement reported a high prevalence of sexual violence endured by women volunteers on the frontlines. Last week two volunteers were raped, and on October 2 one volunteer was murdered in her home by the RSF soldiers because she refused them access to her residential property. 

The volunteer had been part of a feminist response team that provided psychosocial support to survivors of rape and other forms of violence. She was “fatally wounded with two bullets, one to the head and one to the chest, shot through the window as she was inside trying to barricade the door against the soldiers.” 

SIHA asserted that the violence against medical personnel violates the workers’ basic rights and breaches Article 9 of the Additional Protocol relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), which obligates warring parties to respect and protect medical personnel. They also violate civilians’ rights under Article 7.

They assert that the violations against women and girls constitute a breach of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions by committing violence against civilians and subjecting them to inhumane and cruel treatment. 

They said these violations also breach Article 4 and Article 16 (2), which are the right to life and State Parties’ obligation to protect the health of their people and ensure medical attention respectively, of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).

“The lack of support for women and girls in Greater Khartoum who have been assaulted by the RSF over the past 6 months is a shameful act of complacence, particularly from Sudanese politicians and the administration, who simply do not care about extending support to women and girls and civilians in the country.”

“We call upon international and regional actors and friends of Sudan to advocate and exert pressure to secure safe spaces where survivors of sexual violence can receive essential medical services, including rape kits, HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) kits, and other necessary care, without the risk of exposure to RSF reprisal.” They also called upon international and regional actors to fund medical supplies. 

The statement identified three medical facilities in the Greater Khartoum region where women and girls can obtain PEP kits following instances of sexual assault. These facilities include El Turki Hospital in South Khartoum, El Ban Jadeed Hospital in Khartoum Bahri, and El Nour Hospital in Omdurman.

* The SIHA Network was created by women activists from Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Sudan in the mid-1990s. Today they work as an inclusive and diverse women’s rights network that holds a unique position working as a regional civil society network in politically volatile contexts. SIHA works in a variety of cultural, political, and geographical environments in Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, and South Sudan.