Rape during the Darfur genocide

Throughout the ongoing genocide in the War in Darfur there has been a systematic campaign of rape, which has been used as a weapon of war, in the ethnic cleansing of black Africans from the region. The majority of rapes have been carried out by the Sudanese government forces and the Janjaweed ("evil men on horseback") paramilitary groups. The actions of the Janjaweed have been described as genocidal rape, with not just women, but children also being raped, as well as babies being bludgeoned to death and the sexual mutilation of victims being commonplace.

The genocide, which is being carried out against the Fur, Masalit and the Zaghawa ethnic peoples has led to the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicting several people for crimes against humanity, rape, forced transfer and torture. According to Eric Reeves more than one million children have been "killed, raped, wounded, displaced, traumatized, or endured the loss of parents and families".

Due to the ongoing violence it has not been possible for researchers to conduct population based studies, and there are no estimates as yet of the number of victims. It is believed that the rapes are widespread, and the victims are estimated to be in the tens of thousands. One NGO documented 9,300 rapes, however observers in country have stated the number of those raped are closer to double the 9,300 documented. There have been reports of girls under the age of ten to women over seventy being raped, and that the majority of victims had suffered from being gang raped. Children aged five have been raped, and one third of rape victims are children. As of 2009, reports and testimonials concluded that the campaign of rape was systematic and had been ongoing for five years. In a statement to the UN, then UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said "In Darfur, we see whole populations displaced, and their homes destroyed, while rape is used as a deliberate strategy".

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reported that in a remote area of Darfur local leaders had stated that over four hundred women and girls had been raped, and that some of these women had been raped in full view of their husbands. USAID also reported that they had gotten reports of women being branded by the Janjaweed following rapes.

...
Wikipedia