[Dabanga] Kampala / Nairobi / Amsterdam -- Women in Sudan have been driven "hundreds of years backwards" after three years of war, according to a leading regional activist, amid mounting evidence of widespread sexual violence, forced labour and systematic repression across the country. Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), says sexual violence and exploitation had become pervasive - even in areas previously considered relatively safe, including Khartoum and El Gezira.