The stoning of Soraya

Quote: Rape - a Latin word which means seize and carry off - is used to describe how in ancient times bands of warring men would abduct women as part of warfare.*(Psychology of gender and sexuality , Wendy and Rex Rogers 2001) In the past three decades, the United Nations Commission found in larger clinics in Zagreb, Croatia that there were plenty of women pregnant as a result of rape, and mentioned that rape was used as an instrument of ethnic cleansing. (Amnesty international 1991*) After 14 years, the same description still exists and is used by Amnesty International (AI) and MSF and UN agencies. In the context of this paper it has been coined to refer to sexual violence and sexual abuse in Darfur where opposing soldiers raped and sexually abused Darfurian women in a very systematic way to the extent that it can be described as a war strategy. Rape has been considered as a measure of humiliation in the war; in this sense it has been used as a tool to demoralize and punish the locals from the opposing tribe. Studies* (MSF report 2005) showed that, no woman or girl is safe, every woman or girl had either endured sexual assault herself, or knew of someone who had been attacked, particularly when they left the relative safety of their internally displaced persons camp or settlement to find firewood.*(human Sexuality in the a world of diversity by Spencer A. Rathus, Jeffrey S. Nevid, and Lois Fichner-Rathus,2007) Seeking wood outside villages and fetching water are characteristics of Darfurian women’s simple life. “Many families fear that if men were to seek firewood instead, the militias would kill them” said Pamela Shifman, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) adviser on violence and sexual exploitation *(UN News Centre) It is flabbergasting to note that sexual abuse and violence is also committed by United Nations peace-keepers who are sent in the region to protect the civilian population. Additionally, it is noted that a small number of “survival prostitution” has been reported, with women trading sex in refugee camps in exchange for food and shelter. In conclusion we have to say that sexual violence has been committed at a massive scale and has affected thousands of women, with devastating consequences on women and their communities.