Investigate rape in Darfur, say women rights activists

Kampala

Women rights activists from six African countries yesterday called for investigations into an increase in sexual violence against women in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

Drawn from 40 NGOs, and organised under the umbrella ‘Gender is My Agenda’ (Gimac), the women who were attending a pre-African Union Summit meeting said despite the presence of UN and African Union peacekeepers, the incidence of rape remains high.

Ms Fatuma Limeldin, the representative of Darfur Women Association, told the meeting that all sides in the Darfur conflict are using sexual violence as a war tool against women. “We call upon African Union to quickly investigate sexual violence against women in Darfur especially around the camps,” she said.

Women from Darfur are among the six delegations from Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia and Guinea who gave their experiences in these conflict-affected countries.
The Board Director of Urgent Action Fund, Ms Jessica Nkuuhe, told women to use their numerical strength over men in Africa to vote out bad governments that have failed to address critical issues affecting them. She said Gimac would present the recommendations of their meeting to the heads of state summit which starts on Sunday.