‘We need an armed feminist movement’

Two women students from El Fasher say that’s the only way to protect women from systematic rapes

Two displaced women students from El Fasher University in North Darfur called on Monday for an armed feminist movement to stand up against rape, which they accuse is currently being used as a weapon of war in Sudan.The students, who cannot be named for their own security, told Radio Dabanga about the pressing need for an armed feminist movement in Darfur which will protect them against systematic rapes committed by government forces and their armed militias.

One of the women students said that they are currently helpless when it comes to protecting themselves from rape. “This is a new thought, a new mechanism to tackle the problem of rape faced by Darfuri women,” she said.

The cases of reported rapes in Darfur have gone up sharply in the recent past. Radio Dabanga alone has reported about numerous rape cases in Darfur in the past couple of months.