![On 3 December 2024 in Sudan, 8-month-old Aman [NAME CHANGED] sits on the lap of his mother, Hala [NAME CHANGED] during a visit to a women-supported organization. Hala, 19 years old, is among several other young girls and women here that have been affected by conflict related sexual violence during the ongoing conflict. While in Khartoum, at 17 years of age, she was raped by armed men. Hala then fled the city."I found a woman I knew there. I told her that I wanted to leave, that I couldn't stay there, and that I couldn't bear it anymore. I left with her," Hala said."At that time, I didn't realize I was pregnant until I was already four months along. I explained to the woman what had happened, but she couldn't accept the situation. She became scared and forced me to leave."After that, I became homeless, moving from one house to another and from one area to the next. I don't have a home or family. I tried to seek refuge in a shelter, but they turned me away because I was pregnant and refused to accept me."Because she was adopted herself, Hala is determined to raise Aman on her own, but it is very difficult. In the new city where she has sought refuge, Hala continues to face stigma, discrimination, and rejection. She wants to complete her education but isn't able to afford it or find someone to care for Aman."He is a quiet boy, he loves games and TV, and he likes me to play with him. And he loves animals." Hala is pictured at a women's organization where she receives psychosocial and financial support to aid her healing. The ongoing conflict in Sudan has killed and injured thousands of people, internally displaced more than 11 million people, and spawned a humanitarian crisis that has resulted in disease and malnutrition.But less often reported is the severe protection crisis that is occurring during this conflict, especially the widespread perpetration of sexual violence against children. New data reveals children as young](/media/2025/03/04/722305/Wide-UNI754389-1000.webp)
Osebe, ki so preživele posilstvo, se pogosto ne želijo izpostaviti ali pa jim prijavo kaznivega dejanja onemogočajo ovire pri dostopu do uradnih oseb ali delavcev na terenu. Prisoten je tudi strah pred stigmo, s katero bi se otroci lahko soočili, če bi se razvedelo za posilstvo. Poleg tega se bojijo zavrnitve s strani družine ali skupnosti ter maščevanja storilcev.
»Oboroženi moški posiljujejo že enoletne otroke, kar bi moralo vsakogar pretresti in prisiliti k takojšnjemu ukrepanju,« je povedala Catherine Russell, izvršna direktorica UNICEF-a, in dodala: »Milijonom otrok v Sudanu grozijo posilstva in druge oblike spolnega nasilja, ki se uporabljajo kot vojna taktika. To je odvratna kršitev mednarodnega prava in bi lahko pomenila vojni zločin. To se mora končati.«
Od 221 prijavljenih primerov posilstev otrok je 147 žrtev deklic. Pomembno je poudariti, da je med žrtvami veliko dečkov, ki se prav tako soočajo s stigmo in posebnimi izzivi pri prijavi zlorabe, iskanju pomoči in dostopu do storitev. Šokanten je tudi podatek, da je 16 žrtev mlajših od pet let, med njimi štirje enoletni otroci. O primerih so poročali iz devetih sudanskih zveznih držav. V istem obdobju je bilo prijavljenih še dodatnih 77 primerov spolnih napadov na otroke, predvsem poskusov posilstva.
Strah, da bi postale žrtve, silita ženske in dekleta, da zapustijo svoje domove in družine ter pobegnejo v druga mesta, kjer pogosto pristanejo v improviziranih, neformalnih naseljih ali v skupnostih z omejenimi viri preživetja. Tudi v teh skupnostih je tveganje za spolno nasilje veliko, zlasti za notranje razseljene otroke.
