Duchess Sophie breaks down in tears after meeting with rape victims in Africa
The Duchess of Edinburgh met with refugees on the border of war-torn Sudan and broke down after hearing the horrific stories of sexual violence that women there had faced.
Sophie Wessex wept after hearing the “devastating” stories from women who have been subjected to sexual violence and rape by soldiers who use this as a terror tactic in a brutal war
To escape the atrocities, the women have fled to neighbouring Chad, where Sophie spoke with them.
She hugged five of the survivors after they detailed how they’d been raped in exchange for food and water and revealed their daughters had been through similar harrowing experiences.
With tears in her eyes, she said: “I daren’t even describe to you what they’ve been doing to children. It’s not just about the sexual violence, which is horrific because they’re having to exchange food and water for sex, and if they don’t they kill them.
“These women have no option but to leave. And even then they’re lucky. If they can get away, because some of the villages and towns that they come from, they can’t even leave their houses any more. If they leave their houses they get killed.”
She told The Sun after meeting with a “silent” girl on the Sudanese border: “It’s heartbreaking. You have no idea what they have been through. That little girl was so silent and it worried me because of what I’ve just heard now.
