The United Nations has raised the alarm following an upsurge in cases of abductions and raping of girls, some as young as 12, by fighters in the two warring factions in war-torn Sudan.
The UN, in a report on Saturday, said the situation had become worrisome due to the increase in the cases of teenage girls being sexually assaulted and raped by armed combatants.
“Health care providers, social workers, counselors and community-based protection networks inside Sudan have all warned of a marked increase in reports of gender-based violence as hostilities continue across the country,” the UN said.
“Reporting violations and getting support is also made difficult, if not impossible, by the lack of electricity and connectivity, as well as lack of humanitarian access due to the volatile security situation.”
The UN estimates 4.2 million people are at risk of gender-based violence, up from 3 million before the conflict started in mid-April, adding that the risk was especially high when women and girls were on the move, seeking to reach safe locations.
Also in a statement on Friday, the Save the Children agency, an arm of the UN, said the alarming numbers of minors who had been sexually assaulted had marked an increase in gender-based violence in the country since the outbreak of the war on April 15.
“We know that the official numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. Children as young as 12 are being targeted for their gender, for their ethnicity, for their vulnerability,” Save the Children’s Sudan director, Arif Noor, said in the statement.
“Some parents were marrying off their daughters at a young age to try to protect them from further abuse.
“There have also been reports of girls being held for days while being sexually assaulted, and gang rapes of women and girls.”