"We are supporting them and we feel their suffering and their courage, and we have to take actions against those violations, because it's our duty to those brave women." - Aimen (Algeria)
"Thank you again for providing the rest of the world with your personal accounts of life within the camps. Our hopes and thoughts are with you." - Jesse P. (USA)
"Dear sisters of the Farchana camp. From far away I feel very close to each of you and I do pray that the Good Lord of Life keep you all in his safe hand. May God bless Sudan and you." - Enrico G. (Italy)
"Blessed Sisters...you are not forgotten and peace will come as each woman, the world over, takes her stand for her sister. We love you." - Paddy M., WomanPeace: Women's Wisdom Center, Fargo, North Dakota (USA)
"Thank you for sharing your story with us. Please know that it has made an impact and that many people do care very much." - Megan G. (South Africa)
Today, April 14, 2009, from 8:30 to 10:00 am, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Physicians for Human Rights and the Nobel Women’s Initiative hold a breakfast panel discussion featuring some of the leading experts on Sudan. The panel includes PHR’s own Karen Hirschfeld, Darfur Survival Campaign Director.
- Jody Williams – recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize (host)
- Nadia Bilbassy – Charters, Bureau Chief, Middle East Broadcast Corporation (MBC) (facilitator)
- Karen Hirschfeld – Sudan Campaign Director, Physicians for Human Rights (panelist)
- Emira Woods – Co-Director of Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Studies (panelist)
- Carla Koppell – Director, Institute for Inclusive Security (panelist)
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) are documenting sexual violence, rape, and displacement and conducting research regarding impacts of these events on the health of Darfuri women who live in refugee camps in Chad. The research team, composed of one human rights investigator and four medical doctors, will speak with women who volunteer to be interviewed anonymously and confidentially. Clinicians will also ask some of the women for consent to conduct a thorough psychological assessment and to examine any visible external physical injuries.
To ensure a broad range of responses, experts from PHR and HHI will interview women in multiple refugee camps. PHR plans to partner with operational organizations for maximum security and effectiveness. PHR and HHI will use the findings from this research to document physical assaults and resultant physical and psychological traumas. PHR will also use this information to advocate for additional appropriate services and programs to assist rape survivors.
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