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DR. HALIMA BASHIR (SOUTH SUDAN)

Friday August 26 2011

DR. HALIMA BASHIR (SOUTH SUDAN)
Halima Bashir used her traumatic experiences in Darfur to spread the word about the terror women and children face in Darfur. Her story is told in the book she co-wrote titled Tears of the Desert. Dr Bashir was a doctor in charge of a clinic in northern Darfur, where she treated girls as young as eight who had been raped. When she spoke to a journalist about the conflict in Darfur, she was abducted and gang raped by the Sudanese secret police. After she was released, she started practising again, and spoke out again to UN representatives and this time was raped by Sudanese soldiers. She eventually managed to escape to London to seek asylum. Dr Bashir is the first Sudanese to speak out on sexual violence, a cultural taboo, and is a voice of strength and courage for the suffering women of Darfur.

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