Conversation with Rahmet Elfikhi, journalist and investigations producer

I pose this critical question to Rahmet Elfikhi at  TRT Arabi, the Arabic language channel of Turkish Radio and Television (TRTWorld).

Rape – with brutality – is so common and casual in war-torn Sudan that getting shocked and outraged, or condemning and demanding accountability are just banal exercises with no fruit and no comfort to the millions of violated women and girls, and a significant number of raped men too. I first saw this 20+ years ago as the  United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in the Millennium’s first genocide in Darfur – and it continues worse than ever today.

As we continue to fail to do anything meaningful about it, should we not, at least, pass the time better by understanding deeper why sexual violence is so deeply embedded in Sudan?

That is the thrust of my conversation with Rahmet (Rahma) who, with her TRT colleagues, has made a powerful documentary, “Land of Victims”. Or perhaps it should be called “Land of Heroes” as the courageous testimonies of the brutalised women – and one man- are an eye-opener.

How do you go about ethically and sensitively making such a documentary giving centrality to the voices of those directly affected. In Arabic with English subtitles this is a must-see. WATCH HERE

However abhorrent or perverted the thought, should decent persons seeking solutions not try to understand deeper by consciously putting themselves in the mindset of the professional warrior-rapist in Sudan?   Accordingly, some of the other questions that Rahmet and I discuss in the podcast are:

– Why do Sudanese fighters rape so casually and cruelly? What kind of men are they?
– What does Sudanese society say about this?
– Why do Sudanese communities cast out the women so raped – thereby doubling their suffering? What happens to the children born of rape?
– What does the Prophet Mohammed PBUH- and Islam – the religion of most Sudanese – say and what does Sudanese culture actually practice? Why?
– And what about the wider Arab and African world? There is hardly even outrage there – never mind African or Arab solutions.
– If it is not wars per se that bring about sexual violence…then what is it?
– Can a “widely-raped” society actually find future peace? How?
– Why are Sudanese elites – including their many renowned and articulate human rights activists, politicians, and humanitarians so coy about discussing this openly, contrasting with the passion with which they argue on everything else?

And so on – the questions roll. Watch on YouTube above & here: https://lnkd.in/gnUsGA-M
Listen Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g_PGZ_w5
Listen Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g_xf5UMm