One victim said she had no choice but to have sex with soldiers to get food for her elderly parents and 18-year-old daughter.
Women struggling to survive in the war-torn Sudanese city of Omdurman say they are being forced to have sex with soldiers in exchange for food, The Guardian reported.
More than two dozen women who have been unable to flee fighting in Omdurman said that sexual intercourse with men from the Sudanese army was the only way they could access food or goods that they could sell to raise money to feed their families, the report pointed out.
The women said that most of the assaults took place in the “factories area” of the city, where the most food in the city is available.
One victim said she had no choice but to have sex with soldiers to get food for her elderly parents and 18-year-old daughter.
The conflict in Sudan has left tens of thousands dead and displaced more than 10 million people, according to the United Nations. A recent UN-backed report said nearly 26 million people, or slightly more than half of the population, were facing high levels of “acute food insecurity”.
Some of the women who spoke to The Guardian said that soldiers are also demanding sex in exchange for access to abandoned houses where it is still possible to loot items to sell in local markets.
One woman said after having sex with soldiers she was permitted to take food, kitchen equipment and perfumes from empty houses. She spoke of her shame at the sexual assault she was forced to endure and being reduced to stealing property to survive.
“I am not a thief,” she said. “What I went through is indescribable, I would not wish it on an enemy … I only did it because I wanted to feed my children.”
