The Guardian: Who Protects Sudanese Women from Rape?

The Guardian highlighted the issue of women in Khartoum and Darfur facing rape since the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in April. The newspaper noted the unavailability of medications typically given to survivors of rape, such as contraceptive pills and pills to prevent the spread of HIV, due to their storage in a building in the capital Khartoum that cannot be accessed because of the fighting. In a report prepared by Veronika Strzyzińska, it was stated that the medication storage contains 47,000 units for care that are used in treatment after the victim has been raped, and they are inaccessible because of the fighting that erupted in Sudan in mid-April. The newspaper called for urgent action as these medications must be taken within 72 hours of the victim experiencing sexual violence. Salima Ishaq from the government's unit for combating violence against women mentioned that there is limited supply of preventive drugs in some clinics in the city, and "we have no means of contraception." She added that "rape is happening everywhere," and "the officially reported cases are very few." Inas Muzammil, an activist working with rape survivors in Khartoum, stated, "I know a woman who was raped by three men, and she does not know if she is pregnant or not due to the lack of proper treatment."