The United Nations has strongly denounced the escalating prevalence of sexual violence targeting women and girls in Sudan during the ongoing conflict that has spanned over two months.
The UN human rights office in Sudan has reported receiving credible information regarding more than 20 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, affecting at least 57 women and girls. Disturbingly, one incident involved the rape of up to 20 women in a single attack.
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s chief humanitarian official, expressed deep concern over these abhorrent acts and emphasized that it is morally unacceptable for Sudan’s women and children to endure such traumatizing experiences.
The 2023 Oscars ceremony inFrance will not allow anyone who is potentially facing a prison sentence for sexual assault.
Next month’s César Awards said its actions were motivated by respect for any potential victims.
It denotes that French actor Sofiane Bennacer, who is being investigated for alleged rape and denies it, will not be attending the ceremony.
If Mr. Bennacer attended, there would have been concerns about protests.
It follows a backlash in 2020, when Roman Polanski, wanted in the US for statutory rape, won best director.
The César Academy, which hands out the awards, took Mr. Bennacer off the list of nominees in November and announced it was thinking about changing the rules regarding eligibility.
Now it has been announced that anyone being investigated for violent crimes punishable by imprisonment, especially those of a sexual nature, will be barred from attending this year’s ceremony on February 25.
The rule also applies to anyone who has been convicted of such an offence.
The Academy will vote on whether to make a permanent change to eligibility criteria.
“Out of respect for the victims… it has been decided not to highlight people who may have been implicated by the judiciary in acts of violence,” it said in a statement, noting that this included “presumed” victims in cases under investigation.
Mr Bennacer, 25, had been nominated for his role in Les Amandiers – titled Forever Young abroad – before police launched an investigation into allegations of rape and sexual assault.
He denied the accusations, and the film’s director, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, said he was the victim of a “media lynching”.
Her sister, former French First Lady Carla Bruni, said the treatment of the actor undermined the presumption of innocence.
The Academy is facing an ongoing reckoning over accusations of sexual violence in the film industry.
The entire board resigned in 2020 after Mr Polanski was nominated for best director. When he won, there was significant outcry, with several actresses walking out of the ceremony.
Mr Polanski has been wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl since the 1970s. He admitted unlawful sex with a minor in 1977 and served six weeks in prison, but later fled the US over concern that a plea bargain deal would be scrapped.
In 2019 former model Valentine Monnier accused him of raping her in 1975. A lawyer for Mr Polanski said he disputed the allegation “in the strongest terms”.
The Director of the Department of Gender in the Central Region, Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe, has disclosed that it is very good to engage men and boys in discussions concerning sexual and gender-based violence since about 80% of the perpetrators are men.
As parts of efforts to sensitize adolescents, especially boys, on their sexual reproductive health, Mrs Thywill Kpe revealed in an interview at Ekumfi in the Central Region that according to statistics from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), majority of sexual and gender-based violence are caused by men, hence it is prudent that men are included in such advocacy activities as partners.
This move is aimed at finding a total and wholistic end to sexual and gender-based violence.
“Last year, as part of moves to address issues of adolescent girls particularly teenage pregnancy, adolescent reproductive issues and teenage pregnancy, we realized it is important to also engage the men and the boys.”
“From the data in our quarters, DOVVSU, we realized that about 80% of the perpetrators of domestic violence are men, whiles 80% of victims are also women.”
“Therefore, if we want to address the issue of sexual and gender-based violence, it is important that we engage the men as partners to help in the fight against gender-based violence†she noted.
Sex is an activity involving both sexes, then it is important boys are also spoken to about their sexual and reproductive health so they become informed about their sexual activities and its repercussions.
According to her, she stated that the Ghana Health Service data in 2017, about 19% of persons who impregnate these adolescent girls are boys who graduated from the basic school or just completed Junior High School.
This, therefore, means that leaving them out of the equation is not prudent if indeed the Central Region wants to really eradicate or reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy in the region drastically.
“When it comes to sex, it is both sides. For instance, if you look at the Ghana Health Service data in 2017, it shows you that about 19% of those who impregnate these girls in the region are boys who have just completed Junior High School and boys between the ages of 10 and 19 years. So, we realized that it was important we engaged these group of boys as part of our advocacy work to end sexual and gender-based violence and promote good adolescent sexual and reproductive health practices that can help us reduce teenage pregnancy in the Central Region†she stated.
The gender ministry is really fighting hard to reduce drastically teenage pregnancy and all sorts of gender-based violence.
As a result, the Department of Gender in the Central Region, led by the Director, Madam Thywill Eyra Kpe has been organizing series of capacity building and empowerment workshops for both boys, girls, men and women.
So far about 100 men have been selected from six districts in the region and have been empowered to lead a fearless campaign to drastically reduce the spate of sexual and gender-based violence rearing up its ugly head in the region.
