The People for People Organization, a local NGO in the Central Darfur State capital Zalingei launched a 16-day campaign to combat violence against women on Monday.
The campaign targets women in shelter centers, displaced women, and women activists among others.
Ashraf Adam Ali, the alternate director of the organization, told Radio Tamazuj that the organization paid great attention to women’s issues and many women’s programs had been completed and they have tremendously contributed to women’s activities. He said they are working with other entities to preserve women’s rights and end the violence against women and raise awareness.
“It is time to bring women’s issues out of silence and into the open to create effective feminist leaders to make a difference on the path to change and challenge behaviors that consider violence directed at women a matter,” he said.
For her part, Zubaida Adam, the head of the women’s sector at the People for People Organization, explained that the intention of the campaign to combat violence against women cannot be limited to 16 days, but rather the fight should continue until the manifestations of violence to which women have become exposed end.
“There is great ignorance about the forms of violations that women are exposed to and there are many violations that are kept quiet among women, especially concerning crimes of sexual violence to which women are exposed,” she said.
Adam indicated that women represented the group most exposed to violence during the war, as statistics indicate that women are among the most victims of the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. She added that women have not been spared from hardships even in displacement and asylum centers due to the lack of services and other problems resulting from the war.
Meanwhile, Zalingei Mayor Al-Zubair Khamis said that women represent mothers, wives, and sisters and should be protected. He attributed the violation of women’s rights to the weakness of governments or wars during which insecurity and serious attacks occur against women.
“The death of a man during war places more responsibilities on women,” he said. “Some of the additional burdens are taking care of the children and providing a living for the family.”
Khamis called for the need to reach a rational ruling that preserves women’s rights and protects them from violation.
A woman activist, Alawiya Ahmed, one of the participants in the campaign, emphasized the poor conditions of women and their suffering due to the increasing rate of violence which contributes to limiting women’s opportunities to obtain education or appropriate social or economic appreciation. She expressed her aspirations to form an entity of active women to follow up on women’s conditions in the region.
“Most women are ignorant about their rights and lack the psychological and legal support necessary to protect themselves from physical and verbal violence,” Ahmed said.