Over the past two years, Sudan has risen to be a violent site of intense warfare with a refugee catastrophe. However, compared to other foreign conflicts, the civil war in Sudan has received minimal attention despite around 150,000 people killed and 10 million displaced (“Sudan War”). Many of these refugees are fleeing to neighboring countries like Chad and Ethiopia, yet the excessive amount of civilians forced to leave their homes has created utter chaos in the region (“Civil War in Sudan”). Women remain specifically at high risk in these war zones; after the civil war began, they are the majority internally displaced at 5.8 million people (“Sudan Humanitarian Crisis”)
Since the Darfur crisis of 2003, Sudan has experienced ongoing genocidal and sexual violence, in particular towards women through the massacres of ethnic African groups (“They Keep Killing Us”). This ethnic cleansing has led to mass displacement throughout Sudan. For over the past 20 years, Arab militias have been targeting and exerting violence on non-Arab Africans. One of these paramilitary groups, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has conducted armed conflict since April 2023 that has led to civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The RSF has been perpetuating human atrocities, such as rape, murder, and destroying villages. 48-year-old Naima has witnessed multiple acts of brutality on her and her family’s life. In an interview with The New York Times, Naima spoke about the murder of her husband, the presumed rape of her daughter, and the attempted sexual assault on herself and her niece. She recalled the gunmen saying, “We need to kill this Black trash”. (“Don’t Kill My Child”). Naima represents one of many Sudanese women. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, even before fighting erupted in April 2023, over 3 million women and children were at risk for sexual violence in Sudan. These women are extremely vulnerable to sexual violence by armed militias. As the UN’s High Commissioner of Human Rights said, rape is being used as a “weapon of war” (“Rape me, not my daughter”). The lack of humanitarian aid and attention is extremely upsetting as innocent civilians, women, and children all live through fear.
As the genocide continues in Sudan, many world leaders, including President Biden, have been making unclear messages on their stance on the civil war. One of America’s allies, the United Arab Emirates, has been supplying the RSF militia through ammunition and advanced technology – by being disguised as humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people, The New York Times reported (“Washington’s Mixed Messages”). Although the President has called for an end to the war and supply to the genocidal acts, the UAE, a “major global defense partner”, and the US maintain to have a close relationship, as shown through both respective leaders’ meetings in Washington last month (“Biden needs to pressure”). President Biden, like many global leaders, is seemingly not putting enough effort into ending the civil war and encouraging other global allies to do so as well.
Sudan remains overlooked by the world, and as everyone continues to ignore it, the situation will only be more detrimental to the innocent. Women remain under crucial threat of sexual violence by militias, yet the globe remains inadequate in aid and pressuring other foreign leaders to act. Sexual violence is a human atrocity that is being used as an evil form of power over women as an effort of genocide. The women of Sudan must not be silenced as their stories remain critical in a time of the corruption of power and a global humanitarian catastrophe.
