Sexual violence against Darfuri women – as reported from one side of the border

A report, entitled “No Place for Us Here” released by Amnesty International yesterday highlights the continuing problem of both the occurrence of rape and the impunity for it in and around the refugee camps in Chad. Amnesty acknowledges the limitations of their research given the general insecurity in the area and the sensitive nature of the topic. But if you read the Amnesty report in combination with “Nowhere to Turn”  (the report released by PHR earlier this year, where researchers conducted in-depth interviews and for a subset of the women conducted an evaluation based on the Istanbul Protocol) , the overall picture is as robust as it is bleak.

But these reports also highlight for me a different point – Namely the absence of such reports on Darfuri women who are still inside Darfur. Is this because IDPs are safe from sexual violence while refugees are not? No. It’s because the Sudanese government expelled the agencies that did this reporting from Darfur. HUGE issue, and challenging to address because those who are closest to it can’t talk about it for fear of expulsion-by-association with the topic. I’ll have a piece on this in TNR coming out soon . . .

P.S. Lest anyone reading this is about to slip into that nice comfort zone where rape and an accompanying culture of impunity are things that only happens “elsewhere”, I bring you this timely reminder from the heart of Hollywood, courtesy of Melinda’s blog (note: you have to read the whole way down AND click on the link at the end. Hat-tip to Wronging Rights for this one.)