They fled the war in Sudan. Now women in refugee camps say they are forced to have sex to survive

ADRE, Chad — When she entered Chad, the 27-year-old thought she had left the horrors of war in Sudan behind her: the bodies she drove over as she fled, the screams of girls being raped, the disappearance of her husband as gunmen attacked . But now she says she has faced even more suffering: As a refugee, she was forced to have sex to make ends meet.

She was cradling her seven-week-old son, who she claimed was the child of a care worker who promised her money in exchange for sex.

“The children were crying. We ran out of food,” she said of her four other children. “He took advantage of my situation.” She and other women who spoke to The Associated Press requested anonymity because they feared retaliation.

Some Sudanese women and girls claim that men, including those meant to protect them such as humanitarian workers and local security forces, have sexually exploited them in Chad’s refugee camps, offering them money and easier access to aid and jobs. Such sexual exploitation in Chad is a crime.

Hundreds of thousands of people, most of them women, have flocked to Chad to escape Sudan’s civil war, which has killed more than 20,000 people. Aid groups are struggling to support them in the growing refugee camps.

Three women spoke to the AP in the town of Adre, near the Sudanese border. A Sudanese psychologist shared the stories of seven other women and girls who refused to speak directly to a reporter or stopped contacting her. The AP could not confirm their accounts.

Daral-Salam Omar, the psychologist, said all seven told her they accepted offers of benefits in exchange for sex out of necessity. Some sought her help because they became pregnant and could not seek an abortion at a clinic for fear of being shunned by their community, she said.

“They were destroyed psychologically. Imagine a woman in this situation getting pregnant without a husband,” Omar said.

Sexual exploitation during major humanitarian crises is not uncommon, especially in displacement sites. Aid agencies have long struggled to combat the problem. They cite a lack of reporting by women, not enough money to respond and a focus on meeting basic needs first.

The U.N. refugee agency said it does not publish data on cases, citing confidentiality and safety of victims.

People seeking protection should never have to make choices based on survival, experts say. Nidhi Kapur, who works to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse in emergencies, said exploitation represents a deep failure of the aid community.

Yewande Odia, representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Chad, said sexual exploitation is a serious violation. UN agencies say displaced persons camps have “safe spaces” where women can gather, along with awareness sessions, a toll-free hotline and feedback boxes to report abuse anonymously.

Still, many Sudanese women said they were unaware of the hotline, and some said using the boxes would attract unwanted attention.

The Sudanese woman with the newborn said she was afraid to report the incident to the aid worker for fear he would report her to the police.

She said she approached the aid worker, a Sudanese man, after looking for a job to buy basic necessities such as soap. She asked him for money. He said he would give her cash, but only in exchange for sex.

They slept together for months, she said, and he paid the equivalent of about $12 each time. After she had the baby, he gave her a one-time payment of about $65 but denied it was his, she said.

The man was a Sudanese worker for Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym Doctors Without Borders, she said.

Two other Sudanese women said Chadian men working at MSF sites – one wearing MSF clothing – approached them after they applied for work with the organization. The men recorded their phone numbers and called repeatedly saying they would give them jobs for sex. Both women said they refused.

Christopher Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders, said the organization was unaware of the allegations and wanted to investigate. “Soliciting money or sex in exchange for access to care or a job is a clear violation of our behavioral obligations,” he said.

Doctors Without Borders would not say how many such cases have been reported among Sudanese refugees in Chad. Last year, of 714 complaints about the conduct of MSF staff where it operates worldwide, 264 cases of abuse or inappropriate behavior, including sexual exploitation, abuse of power and bullying, were confirmed, Lockyear said.

Lockyear said MSF is creating a pool of investigators at the global level to enhance its ability to prosecute allegations.

One woman told the AP that a man from another aid group also exploited her, but she could not identify the organization. Omar, the psychologist, said several women told her they were being exploited by aid workers, locally and internationally. She has provided no evidence to support the claims.

Another woman, one of two who claimed they were approached after she sought work with Doctors Without Borders, said she also turned down a local police officer who approached her and promised an extra food ration card if she went to his house.

Ali Mahamat Sebey, Adre’s chief official, said police were not allowed into the camps and claimed the exploitation allegations against them were false. However, with the growing influx of people, it is difficult to protect everyone, he said.

The women said they just wanted to feel safe, adding that access to jobs would reduce their vulnerability.

After most of her family was murdered or kidnapped in Sudan’s Darfur region last year, a 19-year-old sought refuge in Chad. She did not have enough money to support the nieces and nephews in her care. She got a job at a restaurant in the camp, but when she asked her Sudanese boss for a raise, he agreed to the condition of sex.

The money he paid was more than six times her salary. But when she became pregnant with his child, the man fled, she claimed. She rubbed her growing belly.

“If we had enough, we wouldn’t have to go out and lose our dignity,” she said.

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