Women and girls are still victims of violence in Darfur

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7518.654-d

BMJ 2005;331:654 (24 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7518.654-d

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Women and girls are still victims of violence in Darfur

London Peter Moszynski

Women and girls in Darfur are still suffering rape and other forms of sexual violence in Darfur, a new United Nations report shows. The report confirms much of the content of an earlier report by the organisation M�decins Sans Fronti�res which resulted in denials from the Sudanese government and the temporary detention of its authors in May (BMJ 2005;330:1350,11 June).

The "situational analysis," jointly conducted by the Unicef and the UN Population Fund, details people�s perceptions of the situation and indicates that widespread incidents of sexual and physical violence are still occurring.

Health problems mentioned by women were rape; malnutrition; miscarriages; irregular menstrual cycles; sexually transmitted diseases; physical injuries due to beatings; injuries sustained during flight from their enemies; and psychological disturbances, such as nightmares.

The psychosocial consequences of sexual violence included "shame, depression, stigma, illness, difficulty coping, and at the worst suicide. All of the . . . [Full text of this article]

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