Fabrizia Falcione, UNFPA Country Representative in Sudan, briefed journalists in New York on findings from a recent assessment based on 95 focus group discussions conducted across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states. About 1 000 women and girls took part.
According to UNFPA, 76% of women aged 25 to 49 reported feeling unsafe inside displacement camps and sites, as well as outside them, including at markets, water points, firewood collection areas, roads and streets. Fear intensifies at night, particularly when women need to use camp latrines. “No matter where, they feel unsafe, and it’s not about a few incidents or a few locations,” Falcione said, speaking from Khartoum.
Sudan’s conflict, now in its fourth year, continues with no clear end in sight as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces persists across multiple regions. Falcione said many women UNFPA teams have met have lived under prolonged shelling and active conflict, and have been displaced multiple times.
“The road to safety is actually not safe at all,” she said, describing reports of harassment, sexual violence, physical assaults, and shortages of food and water during displacement journeys. In camps, women and children make up the majority, yet basic protection measures remain weak.
Falcione described women, including pregnant women, walking through camps at night “completely in the dark” to reach latrines with no lighting, a situation that increases exposure to violence.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
