On World AIDS Day, Act on Behalf of the Women of Darfur

by Michelle . · 2009-12-01 17:26:00 UTC
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On World AIDS Day last year, I wrote about the use of rape as a tool of genocide in Rwanda, and the women who survived and are now living with the HIV/AIDS. This year, we turn our attention to Darfur.

Sexual violence is recognized as problem of epidemic proportions in Darfur: The systematic use of rape against Darfuri women is among the list of crimes against humanity on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's international arrest warrant, and displaced women in Darfur and refugees in Chad face an ongoing threat of rape, in part due to the abysmal lack of security in and around their camps.

To make matters worse, support systems for survivors of sexual violence in Darfur were all but eliminated when the Sudanese government expelled 13 international humanitarian agencies from the country in March - the majority of these agencies offered services, including testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS, to survivors in Darfur's internally displaced camps.

A coalition of 60 organizations recently launched a joint advocacy campaign calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make the restoration of these programs an urgent priority for the administration. Please contact your senators and representative today to share your support for this incredibly important initiative.

The deprivation of protection programs for survivors of sexual violence is yet another example of the Sudanese government's repeated abuse of its own citizens. The Obama Administration should use any leverage it has to bring this chain of victimization to an end.

[Photo: Red Ribbon hanging in the North Portico of the White House in Observation of World AIDS Day.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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