Rafif Asleem

Gaza — Sudanese women today are living under extremely harsh humanitarian and living conditions amid a bloody conflict that has stripped them of their simplest rights to life. Women in Gaza have gone through the same experience, enduring a war that lasted more than two years. For this reason, they declare their full solidarity with Sudanese women, with hearts full of hope that the bloodshed will end and they may once again live in safety.

Strong and Independent Women

Ataf Al-Qassas says she has seen — and continues to see — many video clips of Sudanese women on social media. She explains that these women, who were once strong, independent, and living peaceful lives, have now become deprived and oppressed, suffering all forms of physical and psychological pain due to daily crimes committed against them. Many can no longer eat, drink, or even sleep—if that is possible at all.

She explains that Sudanese women are their sisters, and this makes her feel deep anguish for them, as she herself experienced starvation, siege, lack of shelter, and the collapse of basic living conditions in war-torn Gaza. She points out how difficult it is for a woman used to a stable and comfortable lifestyle to endure war because it forces upon her a harsh and painful way of life on all physical and psychological levels.

She stresses that women everywhere have the full right to life and dignified living: food, water, and shelter, regardless of their nationality, color, religion, or ethnicity. She questions why women are subjected to such severe injustice, and where are the international bodies that claim to protect women’s rights and freedoms? Why don’t they provide safety and evacuate women from conflict zones to safer areas—even within their own country?

Ataf Al-Qassas sends a message to Sudanese women: Be patient — you are strong. History testifies to the many struggles Sudanese women have fought since ancient times. She hopes for immediate and serious action by human rights organizations to rescue them and provide essential services that keep them alive, especially as so many have lost their homes, children, jobs, and loved ones.

Women’s Suffering Is One

Naifa Ahmed does not hide her pain when watching videos of Sudanese women begging the Rapid Support Forces not to kill them in cold blood, or of another woman tied with ropes, forced to pull a cart carrying four men. These are just some of the scenes that cannot all be listed. She wishes for an end to this injustice so Sudanese women can be treated with dignity — the dignity they deserve as women who have always been a powerful pillar in building their communities.

She feels that the suffering of Sudanese and Gazan women is one and the same. It is the woman who endures the cries of her hungry child late into the night when she has nothing to feed him. It is she who suffers hunger for days. It is she who knows the pain of displacement as militias and gangs advance toward her home, forcing her to flee carrying what belongings she can, sometimes running barefoot in fear of the crimes she sees and hears about every day.

She affirms that Sudanese women—and women everywhere—felt the pain of Gaza’s women and stood in solidarity with them. If they could have done more, they would have. She believes that this moral solidarity is the least Gaza’s women can offer in return, wishing that her Sudanese sisters hold on to hope and strength to withstand these heavy days.

Lack of Media Coverage

Sakina Salah says she constantly prays for Sudan’s women, asking that the fires of war be lifted from them soon. She notes that the suffering of Sudanese women today is even greater than that of their Gazan sisters, especially given the lack of media coverage of the crimes taking place there — unlike Gaza, where widespread media attention sparked global solidarity.

She explains that women feel each other’s pain and understand it deeply. They know the difficulty of staying in a land consumed by war, where suffering cannot simply be adapted to — at some point a woman will find herself overwhelmed and unable to bear the weight of what is happening. As a woman in Gaza, she wishes for the end of all injustice against Sudanese women and hopes this ordeal ends soon with a ceasefire in Sudan