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The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Women and girls ‘not safe anywhere' as Darfur suffers surge in sexual violence
As Sudan's Darfur region has been overrun by militias, women are facing the constant threat of sexual violence, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported. The medical charity said in the South Darfur region alone its workers treated 659 sexual violence survivors between January and March this year, more than two-thirds of whom had been raped. 'Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere. They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped,' said Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator, who called on the warring parties to hold their fighters to account. 'These attacks are heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators. This must stop. Sexual violence is not a natural or inevitable consequence of war, it can constitute a war crime, a form of torture, and a crime against humanity.' Several women who gave testimonies to MSF described raids where fighters killed all the boys and men in a place before raping women and girls. A 27-year-old nurse said she was raped last year by fighters who accused her of treating Sudanese army soldiers. 'I want protection now; I don't want to be raped again … I was too afraid to go to the hospital. My family told me, 'Don't tell anybody'. I don't have any more pain. But I have nightmares about it,' she said. MSF said that 56% of the sexual violence they documented was perpetrated by non-civilians. Women and girls having to walk long distances to gather food and water put them in particular danger, the report said. A third of women and girls were attacked while travelling to or working in fields. Since April 2023, Darfur has witnessed a surge in human rights abuses as it has been taken over by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and allied militias as they fight for control against the government's Sudanese armed forces. The fighting has recently been concentrated around the city of El Fasher, where conditions have deteriorated rapidly for civilians. The RSF's seizure of the nearby Zamzam displacement camp led to further reports of increased sexual violence. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha), a coalition of women's rights groups, said it has verified 14 cases of rape but had received reports of many more, during the Zamzam attack and in the weeks since, as well as dozens of reports of women disappearing or being abducted by RSF fighters. 'Sexual violence has become an everyday reality for women and girls in Darfur, along with the rise in sexually transmitted diseases,' said Siha's head, Hala al-Karib, who said the international community had abandoned women in Darfur. Karib said the violence had been escalating since before the current conflict because of the withdrawa of a UN and African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur that had provided some protection to local communities. 'The peacekeeping mission primarily contributed to the safety and security of women by patrolling roads and enabling them to access their farmlands, while also securing displaced camps,' said Karib. 'The level of neglect toward women in Darfur is staggering. This region is experiencing active genocidal acts, horrific war crimes, and famine due to a siege on livelihoods by all actors. There is no dedicated support for women survivors … this crisis is unfolding amid complete silence and utter neglect from international actors.'
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Women in Sudan's Darfur at ‘near-constant risk' of sexual violence: MSF
Sexual violence is a 'near-constant risk' for women and girls in Sudan's western region of Darfur, Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned on Wednesday, calling for urgent action to protect civilians and provide support to survivors. Since war began in April 2023 between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the reported attacks in Darfur have been 'heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators,' according to MSF emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo. The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and left the country's already fragile infrastructure in ruins. The RSF has been accused since the start of the war of systematic sexual violence across the country. 'Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere,' said San Filippo, after MSF teams from Darfur and neighbouring Chad gathered harrowing accounts of victims. 'They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped,' she added. Between January 2024 and March 2025, MSF said it had treated 659 survivors of violence in South Darfur, 94 percent of them women and girls. More than half were assaulted by armed actors, and nearly a third were minors, with some victims as young as five. In Tawila, a small town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the west from North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher, 48 survivors of sexual violence were treated at the local hospital between January and early May. Most arrived after fleeing an RSF attack on the Zamzam displacement camp that killed at least 200 civilians and displaced over 400,000. In eastern Chad, which hosts over 800,000 Sudanese refugees, MSF treated 44 survivors since January 2025 -- almost half of them children. A 17-year-old girl recounted being gang-raped by RSF fighters, saying: 'I wanted to lose my memory after that.' According to Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency medical manager, 'access to services for survivors of sexual violence is lacking and, like most humanitarian and healthcare services in Sudan, must urgently be scaled up'. 'People -- mostly women and girls -- who suffer sexual violence urgently need medical care, including psychological support and protection services,' she added.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
Women in Sudan's Darfur at 'near-constant risk' of sexual violence: MSF
PORT SUDAN: Sexual violence is a "near-constant risk" for women and girls in Sudan's western region of Darfur, Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned on Wednesday, calling for urgent action to protect civilians and provide support to survivors. Since war began in April 2023 between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the reported attacks in Darfur have been "heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators," according to MSF emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo. The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and left the country's already fragile infrastructure in ruins. The RSF has been accused since the start of the war of systematic sexual violence across the country. "Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere," said San Filippo, after MSF teams from Darfur and neighbouring Chad gathered harrowing accounts of victims. "They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped," she added. Between January 2024 and March 2025, MSF said it had treated 659 survivors of violence in South Darfur, 94 percent of them women and girls. More than half were assaulted by armed actors, and nearly a third were minors, with some victims as young as five. In Tawila, a small town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the west from North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher, 48 survivors of sexual violence were treated at the local hospital between January and early May. Most arrived after fleeing an RSF attack on the Zamzam displacement camp that killed at least 200 civilians and displaced over 400,000. In eastern Chad, which hosts over 800,000 Sudanese refugees, MSF treated 44 survivors since January 2025 -- almost half of them children. A 17-year-old girl recounted being gang-raped by RSF fighters, saying: "I wanted to lose my memory after that." According to Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency medical manager, "access to services for survivors of sexual violence is lacking and, like most humanitarian and healthcare services in Sudan, must urgently be scaled up". "People -- mostly women and girls -- who suffer sexual violence urgently need medical care, including psychological support and protection services," she added.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
JK: I will fund the legal actions of women forced to share prisons with men
JK Rowling has offered to bankroll the legal campaigns of female prisoners who have been forced to share jails with biological men. Killer Jane Sutherley is considering legal action against the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) after she was forced to share facilities with transgender women. She is one of potentially 'hundreds of women who have grounds for legal action' over the controversial trans policy, it was yesterday warned, and the wave of cases could end up costing a substantial sum. And Ms Rowling, one of the world's most foremost campaigners on women's rights, has now revealed she would be willing to help fund the campaigns. The Harry Potter author said: 'Of course I'd give financial backing to any women who wanted to sue because she suffered detriments through being incarcerated with a man. 'Women being locked up with men is a human rights violation. Vulnerable women being forced to agree that a man is a woman is a human rights violation. 'A surgically altered man is not a 'fully anatomical woman'. Saying these things is not hate, but truth.' Latest public figures from the SPS reveal there are 16 trans prisoners north of the Border, including killer Alexandra Stewart who was born male and called Alan Baker. Stewart was locked up with women at HMP Greenock, and struck up a relationship with child killer Nyomi Fee. This week Sutherley was acquitted of a four-year long campaign against Stewart and Fee, and it is understood that she is now taking legal advice on action against the SPS. Susan Smith, of For Women Scotland, yesterday warned the SPS that their policies broke the law and had done for years. She warned: 'We imagine there are potentially hundreds of women who have grounds for legal action over a policy which was degrading, humiliating and breached their human rights as well as equality law. 'We have always said that it was only a matter of time before a prisoner took action. 'The Government and the SPS have been guilty of arrogance and complacency - as well as a brutal disregard for these vulnerable women - and it is likely to cost them a great deal.' For Women Scotland are responsible for the stunning court room victory over the Scottish Government, one which has sent public organisations and private firms into a panic after their trans policies were ruled to be unlawful. But rather than act immediately, many have insisted on waiting for the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to finish a consultation on its updated statutory guidance on applying the Equality Act. In April's landmark Supreme Court ruling the words 'women' and 'sex' in the 2010 Act were found to refer to biological women and biological sex. Following the judgment, the equality watchdog issued updated guidance, which said that trans women 'should not be permitted to use the women's facilities' in workplaces or public facing services such as shops or hospitals, with the same applying for trans men using men's toilets. The SPS transgender policies are currently that trans prisoners can be housed in facilities of their desired gender, but this would only happen when 'staff have enough information to reach a decision that a trans individual can be safely accommodated'. The service, which said it had an 'individualised approach', said it 'ensures that any transgender woman with a history of violence against women and girls, who presents a risk to women and girls, will not be placed in the women's estate'. But Ms Smith said: 'The SPS has had ample warning that they were operating an unlawful policy. 'Even before our recent victory in the Supreme Court, the Inner House established that the sort of self-identification policies employed by the SPS were not permitted under the Equality Act.' A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: 'Our staff work hard to support the health, safety and wellbeing of all people living and working in Scotland's prisons. 'We have received the Supreme Court judgment and are considering any potential impact it may have.'
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
International Booker Prize 2025: Indian author and translators are first to win with a short story collection
Heart Lamp by Indian author Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, has won the International Booker Prize, the world's most influential award for translated fiction. The winning book, the first collection of short stories to be awarded the prize, was announced by author Max Porter, chair of the 2025 judges, at a ceremony in London's Tate Modern. The prize recognises the vital work of translation, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between author and translator. The winning collection of 12 short stories chronicles the resilience, resistance, wit and sisterhood of women in patriarchal communities in southern India, vividly brought to life through a rich tradition of oral storytelling. From tough, stoic mothers to opinionated grandmothers, from cruel husbands to resilient children, the female characters in the stories endure great inequities and hardships but remain defiant. Mushtaq, a lawyer and leading voice within progressive Kannada literature, is a prominent champion of women's rights and a protester against caste and religious oppression in India, and was inspired to write the stories by the experiences of women who came to her seeking help. READ MORE The stories in Heart Lamp, which is the first winner of the International Booker Prize to be translated from Kannada, spoken by an estimated 65 million people, 38 million as a first language, were written by Mushtaq over more than 30 years, from 1990 to 2023. They were selected and curated by Bhasthi, who was keen to preserve the multi-lingual nature of southern India. When the characters use Urdu or Arabic words in conversation, these are left in the original, reproducing the unique rhythms of spoken language. " Heart Lamp is something genuinely new for English readers," Porter said. 'A radical translation which ruffles language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes. It challenges and expands our understanding of translation. These beautiful, busy, life-affirming stories rise from Kannada, interspersed with the extraordinary socio-political richness of other languages and dialects. It speaks of women's lives, reproductive rights, faith, caste, power and oppression. This was the book the judges really loved, right from our first reading.' Fiammetta Rocco, prize administrator, said: " Heart Lamp , stories written by a great advocate of women's rights over three decades and translated with sympathy and ingenuity, should be read by men and women all over the world. The book speaks to our times, and to the ways in which many are silenced. 'In a divided world, a younger generation is increasingly connecting with global stories that have been skilfully reworked for English-language readers through the art of translation. Since 2016, the International Booker Prize has promoted the world's best writing in translation.' The winning book was chosen by Porter, prize-winning poet, director and photographer Caleb Femi; writer and publishing director of Wasafiri Sana Goyal; author and translator Anton Hur; and singer-songwriter Beth Orton. Both Mushtaq and Bhasthi were nominated for the International Booker Prize for the first time this year and Heart Lamp is Mushtaq's first English-language publication. Mushtaq is the second Indian author to win the prize, and follows Geetanjali Shree who won in 2022 for Tomb of Sand, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell. Bhasthi is the first Indian translator to win the prize. Mushtaq is the sixth female author, with Bhasthi the ninth female translator, to be awarded the prize since it took on its current form in 2016. At just over 200 pages long, Heart Lamp was the second longest book on a shortlist of slim books: four of the six shortlisted works are under 200 pages long, with Under the Eye of the Big Bird the longest, at 278 pages. This is the first International Booker Prize win for Sheffield-based independent publisher And Other Stories, though their sixth nomination for the prize. 'My stories are about women – how religion, society, and politics demand unquestioning obedience from them, and in doing so, inflict inhumane cruelty upon them, turning them into mere subordinates," Mushtaq said. 'The daily incidents reported in media and the personal experiences I have endured have been my inspiration. The pain, suffering and helpless lives of these women create a deep emotional response within me, compelling me to write. 'Stories for the Heart Lamp collection were chosen from around 50 stories in six story collections I wrote between 1990 and later. Usually, there will be a single draft, and the second one will be a final copy. I do not engage in extensive research; my heart itself is my field of study. The more intensely the incidents affect me, the more deeply and emotionally I write.' Bhasti said: 'For me, translation is an instinctive practice in many ways, and I have found that each book demands a completely different process. With Banu's stories, I first read all the fiction she had published before I narrowed it down to the ones that are in Heart Lamp . I was lucky to have a free hand in choosing what stories I wanted to work with, and Banu did not interfere with the organised chaotic way I went about it. 'I was very conscious of the fact that I knew very little about the community she places her stories in. Thus, during the period I was working on the first draft, I found myself immersed in the very addictive world of Pakistani television dramas, music by old favourites like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Sethi, Arooj Aftab and others, and I even took classes to learn the Urdu script. I suppose these things somehow helped me get under the skin of the stories and the language she uses. 'When one translates, the aim is to introduce the reader to new words, in this case, Kannada (...) I call it translating with an accent, which reminds the reader that they are reading a work set in another culture, without exoticising it, of course. So the English in Heart Lamp is an English with a very deliberate Kannada hum to it."
