Raping Darfur

The gunmen made Mohammed Aadam lie with his face in the dirt while his sister was being raped. He had been sitting in his hut that morning, playing cards with friends, when the Janjaweed attacked. "The Janjaweed were shooting and people from the village were running into the forest," said Aadam, aged 23. "They ordered me and some of the other men to lie down on the ground. They had captured some of the women, including my sister, and we heard the women cry out as they were raped." (Dec. 5, 2004, The Observer)

According to the UN, since 2003 thousands of women have been raped in Dafur as their villages were razed by the government-backed Janjaweed militias. In this print I bring together imagery depiciting the various forces at work in the Darfur conflict -- the military helicopters that come to bomb the villages, the jajaweed on horseback, the circular rings that remain after the village huts are burned, the land itself with its scarce resources, and the foreign oil companies with interests in Sudan (logos along the garment's hem). In my research I also read stories of victims doing amazing things to save their families -- a woman allowing herself to be raped so the her younger sister could escape, an elderly woman using her body to put out a fire that was engulfing her husband. As in all wars, there are many unsung heroes in Darfur.