Duchess shocked by sexual exploitation of refugees

Sophie heard harrowing first-hand experiences from women during her visit to Chad

The Duchess of Edinburgh has described harrowing scenes of sexual exploitation after meeting refugees from Sudan’s civil war who fled to neighboring Chad.

“People are having to exchange food and water for sex, for rape. This is violence that is being practiced through conflicts. It is being used as a negotiating tool,” said Sophie, after a visit to this region of Africa hit by conflict.

She spoke to women who traveled to Chad to escape the border conflict with Sudan.

“These women have no option but to leave. And even then, they are lucky if any of them manage to escape, because… if they leave the house, they will be killed,” said Sophie, who was brought to tears by the harrowing testimony.

This was the first royal visit to Chad and the three-day trip, undertaken at the request of the UK Foreign Office, was only officially announced when it ended on Monday.

The purpose of the visit, says Buckingham Palace, was to draw attention to the deteriorating humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Sudan, which was now producing challenges for neighboring Chad.

More than 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to the conflict in Sudan, the Palace says, with women and children making up a large proportion of those now arriving as refugees in Chad.

“This is a vast human catastrophe and Chad is having to pick up the pieces when he is unable to do so,” Sophie said.

At a medical center in Adre, close to the border with Sudan, Sophie told the Press Association about the “devastating” experiences described to her and how they upset her.

“What they do to children is… I can’t even use the words,” she said.

Sophie spoke to a woman who fled a town in West Darfur, Sudan, with people facing threats and violence.

Her son and brothers were arrested and taken away and Sophie said the woman saw bodies piled up in the street “like a wall”.

The duchess, 59, traveled to this part of Chad with Unicef ​​representatives and visited a refugee camp where almost a quarter of a million people have gathered, with many more still arriving from Sudan.

She spoke to the mother of a young child who traveled for 10 days to reach safety and did not know what had happened to her husband in the fighting.

“While the world and its attention are very focused on other conflicts around the world, the humanitarian crisis faced by the people of Sudan, who are landing on the shores of Chad, cannot be ignored,” said the Duchess of Edinburgh.

This is Sophie’s last visit to highlight the issue of violence against women in times of armed conflict.

Earlier this year, she became the first royal to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

His travels have often been to destinations that are not usually part of royal tours, including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq and Sierra Leone.