The Committee for Justice has submitted an input in response to the call for input by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls for her upcoming report to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The submission focuses on the situation in Sudan, with particular emphasis on the often-overlooked experiences of older women in the context of the ongoing armed conflict since April 2023. It highlights how intersecting factors—including age, displacement, health conditions, and social dependency—expose older women to distinct and aggravated forms of violence.
CFJ’s analysis documents multiple patterns of violations affecting older women, including exposure to direct attacks on civilian areas, sexual and gender-based violence, conflict-related economic deprivation, and harms linked to caregiving responsibilities. The submission further underscores that older women are frequently excluded from humanitarian responses, protection mechanisms, and accountability processes, resulting in significant underreporting of violations.
The report also identifies structural barriers that prevent older women from accessing justice, including lack of documentation, mobility constraints, stigma, and the collapse of essential services and institutions. These barriers, combined with insecurity and displacement, leave older women particularly vulnerable to neglect, exploitation, and abuse.
CFJ calls on States, UN mechanisms, and humanitarian actors to recognize older women as a distinct at-risk group in conflict settings and to adopt age responsive approaches in documentation, protection, and service delivery. CFJ further stresses the importance of ensuring accountability for violations against older women and strengthening international legal frameworks addressing their protection.
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