/ For many months, Sudanese women have been facing cases of violations and rape at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces. It seems that the solution to stop these violations is to “arm” Sudanese women to defend themselves. This began by responding to calls made by the army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, to participate in what he called “confronting the violations of the Rapid Support Forces.” Groups of Sudanese women have joined camps dedicated to training in the use of weapons.
Last August, the River Nile State in northern Sudan witnessed the launch of martial arts training camps for women and girls, before the Red Sea State and Kassala State in eastern Sudan, as well as the Blue Nile State in the southeast, followed suit, in addition to the Northern State, according to the Alhurra website.
The rate of women’s turnout to these camps increased after the Rapid Support Forces took control of Al-Jazeera State in central Sudan, last December.
Violations and violence against women
Sudanese girls of varying ages, and women as old as fifty, joined military training camps, for various reasons.
Manal Othman, 24, attributed her involvement in the training camps in River Nile State to “the desire to protect herself from the attacks of the Rapid Support Forces,” she said.
Osman told Alhurra, “The many girls in Khartoum and Wad Madani, in Gezira State, who were subjected to assaults and violations that reached the level of rape, pushed them to learn martial arts for self-defense, especially with the escalation of statements made by Rapid Support Forces leaders about their intention to attack River Nile State.”
The Horn of Africa Women’s Network (Saiha) revealed in a report on February 9 “violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Jazeera State in central Sudan,” and stated that it “counted 25 documented cases of girls and women who were raped, beaten, and killed,” accusations that the Rapid Support Forces deny.
Girls and women in military training camps receive training, by trainers from the Sudanese army, on the method and mechanism of using rifles classified as light weapons.
Fatima Abdul Jabbar, one of the supervisors of the women’s enumeration and urging them to participate in the training, says, “The training doses in the training camps are not limited to martial arts only, but extend to training girls and women to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of supporting the country’s official army in its war on the Rapid Support Forces.”
Abdul Jabbar told Alhurra, “Women and girls also receive training in areas of providing support to Sudanese army fighters, whether by participating in preparing food or treating the wounded and injured, etc.”
She added, “We aspire for women to actually participate in combat operations on the front lines, and not just provide support to the army, or defend themselves against any potential attacks or violations.”
But the ambition expressed by “Abdul Jabbar” to participate in the fighting was considered by the former Minister of Labor and Social Development, Tayseer Al-Nourani, as one of the most prominent risks facing girls and women who engage in military work, and she pointed out that “both sides of the fighting are accused of violations against women.”
Al-Nourani told Al-Hurra, “Women’s participation in military training or combat exposes them to many risks, such as death or even violations or sexual harassment inside or outside the camps.”
“It is not reasonable to train a girl for a short period of time and ask her to confront an armed man or an experienced fighter with combat experience. This is a real danger,” she continued.
She added, “The responsibility for protecting women from the risks of conflict-related sexual violence lies with the army and security services, and they must play their full role in this direction, instead of endangering women’s lives by opening training camps.”
The former minister returned and pointed out that “there is no objection to women engaging in military work by officially joining military and security institutions and obtaining the required qualification, because that is a guaranteed right. As for anything less than that, it is random and poses a great danger to women.”
According to the British Sky News network, “the motives of women to join combat training vary. Some of them came out of loyalty to their sons and fathers, the recruits who are spread throughout the country amid the ongoing war, and some of them came in the context of self-defense.”
The network quoted a trainee in one of the camps in the coastal city of Port Sudan in eastern Sudan as saying, “The scale of the rape is unimaginable. We have met girls in these camps who were raped.”
“I have three girls and I’m here to defend them and myself,” she added.
The war that broke out in mid-April last year between the Sudanese army led by Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”, resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 people, according to United Nations experts.
The government’s Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Unit said in a report last September that the number of rape and sexual violence cases since the start of the fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces had reached 136 cases.
The unit accused elements of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army of involvement in these cases, and stated that “most of the assaults and cases of conflict-related sexual violence were committed by the Rapid Support Forces.”
Political conflict
The decision of the Sudanese authorities to open women’s training camps has increased the state of political polarization and controversy in Sudan, as political organizations believe that “elements of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir are behind the idea to achieve political goals,” accusations denied by those in charge of these camps.
Here, Fatima Abdel-Jabbar says, “The talk about the control of the leaders of the former regime over these camps lacks validity, because the idea came in response to a call issued by the army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who has a clear position against the former regime.”
Abdul Jabbar pointed out that “the training operations are supervised by army officers, and the National Congress Party or the Islamic Movement have no connection to them, and even those who belong to the former regime participate with the others.”
She added, “I am not a politician and I do not belong to any party. What we are doing is aimed at protecting girls from assaults and violations. Those who reject these camps are supporting the Rapid Support Militia.”
The positions of the Sudanese political forces varied regarding the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. The Forces of Freedom and Change, a civilian alliance consisting of parties and organizations that managed the transitional period, announced a neutral position regarding the war, and did not announce a position supporting the army or the Rapid Support Forces, and put forward an initiative to stop the war.
In contrast, the National Congress, the party of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, and the parties allied with him, announced a position supporting the Sudanese army, and a number of its leaders and members participated in the fighting alongside the army.
The two parties, the civil forces and the former president’s party, exchange accusations of causing the outbreak of the war that broke out on April 15, following disagreements over the framework agreement that the leaders of the former regime and their allies reject.
The Forces of Freedom and Change support the framework agreement with the aim of “restoring the democratic path after the military seized power on October 25, 2021.”
In this context, the former Minister of Labor and Social Development, Tayseer Al-Nourani, says, “All indications point to the control of elements of the former regime over training camps, whether for men or women, as part of their attempts to return to power again.”
Al-Nourani pointed out that “the previous regime had a well-known experience in calling women to fight alongside the army through the “Nasiba Sisters” battalions. Those who supervise these camps are the same ones who were behind them in previous years, and even the slogans and chants that the trainees chant are the same old slogans associated with the previous regime.”
She added, “The continuation of these camps will expose women to danger and will lead to moral hazards, and that is why we have continued to call for protecting women from the risks of conflict-related violence to be done by working to end the war, not fueling it.”
The 1990s witnessed the opening of several camps to train women to participate alongside the army in its war with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by the late John Garang, in what was known at the time as the “Naseeb Sisters” camps, which were established based on a call issued by the late Secretary-General of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, Hassan al-Turabi.
According to UN figures, the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces has killed more than 12,000 people and forced more than 7 million to flee their homes, including 1.5 million who sought refuge in Chad, Egypt, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Last September, several members of the UN Security Council expressed “grave concern about the dire situation of women and girls in Sudan amid the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence,” according to the UN News website.
Members noted that “the ongoing conflict in Sudan has led to an alarming increase in cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including gang rape, sexual slavery and abduction.”