Name: Survivors of rape among Sudanese refugees in Chad
Uploaded: 2025-11-25T15:42:47.253Z
Duration: 2 min 39 s
Description: Thousands of Sudanese women and children in eastern Chad are coping with severe trauma. The war in Sudan has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Millions have been displaced after facing brutal violence and abuse.

Thousands of Sudanese women and children in eastern Chad are coping with severe trauma. The war in Sudan has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Millions have been displaced after facing brutal violence and abuse.

Sudanese refugees, particularly women, in camps in eastern Chad continue to struggle with the trauma of sexual violence and loss experienced during their escape from conflict in Sudan. Many survivors, like Basma and her sister, recount being tortured and abused by militias, while others remain uncertain about the fate of missing family members.

With only one psychiatrist and a few psychologists serving hundreds of thousands of displaced people, most refugees must process their trauma without professional help. Informal women's support circles, led by survivors such as Fatima Fadul, have become crucial for emotional support, though the overwhelming need means many victims may never receive adequate care or justice.

Survivors of rape among Sudanese refugees in Chad

Basma and her sister are still struggling to come to terms with what happened two months ago when they were attempting to escape from al-Fashir. They were intercepted by militias of the Rapid Support Forces and subjected to torture and abuse. May God expose and punish them. God willing, we will have our day of reckoning. They held me and my sister for five days and tortured us. Other refugees survived the violence but lost entire families in the chaos of war. Many here are haunted not only by what they endured but by the uncertainty of whether their loved ones are alive. Many members of my family are presumed dead. My uncle, my mother and children are all missing. A small women's support circle has begun forming in the camp, one of the few sources of emotional support available to victims. A lack of counselling services means thousands of refugees will have to process the horrors they've experienced alone. Officials here say there is only one psychiatrist in this part of Chad and a few psychologists working with non-governmental organisations. Nowhere near enough to provide mental health support to hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes. These informal gatherings have now become lifelines for many. The sessions are led by Fatima Fadul, herself a long-time refugee and survivor of the conflict. She has taken on the task of encouraging women in Gauls to speak openly about rape and abuse, despite the cultural stigma that demands silence. As Sudanese we face the stigma, mothers at home pressure the girl telling her not to speak or to keep silent about the rape. We raise awareness and encourage our sisters and our mothers to speak up about rape in order to claim their rights. When you stay silent you inflict internal psychological harm, leading to illnesses. She believes that acknowledging the trauma, rather than suppressing it, is vital for healing. But the need is overwhelming. For every woman who manages to receive even this minimal level of mental health support, there are hundreds more waiting, many of whom may never get help at all. The scale of the crisis means countless victims will have to face their trauma without counselling, disclosure or justice. For women like Basma, Zainab and thousands of others scattered across camps in Eastern Chad, survival now means learning how to live with memories of violence long after escaping it. Ahmed Idrees, Al Jazeera, Tulum, Chad.

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