Sudan: 'Mainly girls' targeted in Khartoum sexual attacks. Doctors shaken by rape in Bahri & Khartoum

NOTE, writers aren't careful enough with words. This report uses "war" to describe the conflict in Sudan. Sudan's crisis and fighting is not a war. Yet. 

Also, sexual violence is reported as mainly females targeted. Males are too. To be fair, help and support for male victims should be included in news reports. It would help people to understand the horrors of sexual violence.

___________________________

Report at BBC News Live Reporting Sudan

Published Thursday 22 June 2023, 18:14 - here is a full copy:

'Mainly girls' targeted in Khartoum sexual attacks

The head of a unit combating sexual violence against women in Sudan has told the BBC's Sudan Lifeline radio that it is estimated that only 2% of cases are being recorded.

Soulima Ishaq said her team had registered 36 cases in the capital, Khartoum, since the conflict began in April.

“In Khartoum, different ages are targeted, ranging from 12 to 18. There are many stories that are too painful to be told. What hurts me most is the narratives related of the little girls - and of the mothers who suffer from sexual violence in front of their children,” she said.

The devastation of the war, being fought between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is hard for people in Khartoum to understand.

City resident Abul-kareem Zakariah told the BBC his house had been demolished last week and his family now live in a tent in a make-shift camp set up on a street in eastern Khartoum.

“My house was hit by a Sudanese army-affiliated drone. I do not know the reason of the airstrike as I do not belong to the RSF and members of the RSF do not dwell in my house," he said.

“We are now homeless, completely outdoors. My children do not have the simplest elements of life. This is unfair.”

More on Sudan's conflict:

Doctors shaken by rape in Bahri and Khartoum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65845830

[Ends]