Tawila, February 2 (Darfur24)
Popular courts in displacement camps in Tawila, North Darfur, are recording a sharp rise in complaints involving sexual exploitation of women and minors, allegedly carried out in exchange for humanitarian assistance.
A community leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, in Tawila, North Darfur State, said on Monday that the complaints increase daily amid worsening living conditions and shrinking aid across the region.
Activists in Tawila locality and other areas under the control of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul Wahid Nour in eastern Jebel Marra have confirmed the spread of what they described as sexual blackmail targeting displaced women.
A local administration leader in Tawila told Darfur24 that popular courts in displacement sites, particularly Dabba Nayra camp, receive between three and four complaints daily related to pregnancies among women, noting that most of the victims are minors.
According to the official, the phenomenon is closely linked to the worsening humanitarian situation and deteriorating living conditions in the camps, which have increased vulnerability to exploitation. He added that most cases stem from extreme poverty and the absence of adequate protection mechanisms.
He further explained that hundreds of displaced families have sent their daughters, mostly girls aged between 15 and 17, to sleep outdoors near distribution points to register for food rations. Some aid workers, he said, have exploited this situation by coercing girls into sexual acts in exchange for assistance, although many victims refrain from reporting such abuses.
One of the victims told Darfur24 that she was sexually exploited by individuals she described as local sheikhs in return for cash assistance linked to one of the international organisations, adding that she ultimately did not receive the aid. She said dozens of victims, most of them minors, have had their lives severely affected by sexual blackmail and exploitation, while expressing little confidence in the effectiveness of the popular courts in delivering justice.
A women’s rights activist told Darfur24 that displaced women in Umm Janqur and other camps are enduring severe hardship, with dozens subjected to sexual exploitation in exchange for food or shelter materials. She noted that cold weather in recent days has forced many mothers to withdraw their daughters from aid queues out of fear of abuse.
The activist warned that displacement camps in areas controlled by Abdul Wahid’s movement have become increasingly unsafe for women, stressing that the problem is not limited to Tawila or Dabba Nayra camps. Similar abuses, she said, have been reported in Martal, east of Jebel Marra, attributing the spread of the phenomenon primarily to poverty and the lack of oversight.
She cautioned that cases of sexual exploitation are likely to increase as the humanitarian crisis deepens, particularly amid reports that UN agencies have reduced food assistance due to funding shortages.
Tawila, which is under the control of the Sudan Liberation Movement, is among the areas hosting the largest number of displaced people in Sudan, sheltering an estimated 665,000 IDPs—most of whom fled from El Fasher. The movement also controls large parts of the Jebel Marra region, spanning southern and central Darfur.