Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth

300,000 to 500,000 dead. 2 million displaced. These are the numbers so often splashed before us all referring to the heinous crimes and one of the worst humanitarian crisis of our time currently taking place in Darfur. These numbers are shocking and difficult to wrap the mind around, but just hearing them in themselves, detached from human experience one could shake their head in disgust and then store the information in the database of their brain along with drunk driving murder statistics or other social ills alive and well in our society. I want to use this avenue of media to stress and reiterate the humanity involved in Darfur. The situation is deeply complex; ethnic, religious, socio-economic conflicts that make up this unbelievably vast and seemingly endless clash of different tribes and races. And it is always important to remember that in this situation, due to the nature of the cultures and people involved, as well as the displacement that has occurred and virtually in all cases affect women in the worst way; women and children have suffered extensively. A person could spend weeks or months exploring the different aspects of the conflict, the causes and inevitable outcomes and the plethora of reasons that have served as catalysts for this ongoing war.

I plan on shifting this broad and difficult to define frame and situating it on the women who are members of the Zaghawa tribe of Darfur. My intention is to delve deep into the catastrophic events of the war that affected Zaghawa villages and the women and children located within. In understanding the psychological and emotional damage that occurs from such events it is important to analyze specific Zaghawa customs, behaviors, and histories that would clarify the emotional responses of Zaghawa women to the situation. This will also be accomplished by hearing personal narratives of Zaghawa women, stories from their own lips, the purity of their own experiences. The stigma of Africans being unable to express themselves in an intelligent manner must be removed in order for the women to be viewed as equal citizens of the global community, entitled to all the rights and freedoms that we as women of the western world enjoy.

There is a history of colonialism in Sudan that contributes to current events and must be explored. Colonialist ideologies and the acting out of these beliefs by invading, shifting cultural norms, subjugating the citizens, and robbing the country of its resources plays a part in the crisis and colonial history needs to be explored to further break down the events that have played out.

Systematic rape used as a weapon against women and girls during war is something that has been put to use in many a war situation. The emotional, psychological, and physical repercussions of rape specifically when used as a war tactic are numerous and play a morbid and genocidal role in the specific context of in Darfur. I would like to discuss the unique effects on the women located in this specific locale, and how their religious and cultural views increase the reasons why degradation due to sexual violence occurs among the women of Darfur. Finally the instances of such unbelievably large amounts of people (primarily women and children) who are forced out of their homes and into refugee camps is one of the most critical problems associated with the war. Because of these large numbers of people, and conflicting ethnic and tribal viewpoints even among those who are all suffering at the hands of the Janjaweed and the Sudanese government, there is much animosity and division and internal fighting going on among the refugees. I plan on focusing again specifically on the Zaghawa women's struggles at the hand of the militia groups as well as other ethnic tribes within the refugee camps. Also I want to delve into the psychological damage that occurs when one is displaced without a home. Another aspect of the crisis in Darfur that I'll analyze is the dominant discourse and the potential shortcomings of the rhetoric and ideology presented.I also want to locate groups of women who are Sudanese and are becoming subjective survivors who work to better and rise above their situations.

It is hard for me to understand how such unbelievably almost unimaginable events could be played out on such a large scale and my objective in researching Darfur is to gain a greater understanding of the experiences of the people involved and hope to articulate that to others so that perhaps people will have a different more personal take on these events. We as privileged, western 1st world dwellers are not as dislocated and unattached to these situations, these people as we would like to think. To humanize these women will be to take a step towards exploring a different perspective in how we view others, possibly opening doors to form an imaginary community of concerned women and individuals, with goals to bettering life and conditions of living for all people across borders.