Sudanese women face horrific sexual abuse as the world keeps failing them

As Sudan’s civil war drags into its 20th month, sexual violence has emerged as a devastating weapon of war, with women and underage girls bearing the brunt of atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias.

Survivors recount horrific experiences of gang rape, captivity, and ethnically motivated assaults, exposing the scale of human rights violations, yet accountability remains elusive despite extensive UN documentation.

Recent findings from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reveal the breadth of the crisis in the country wracked by the conflict between the Sudanese military and paramilitary RSF.

The top UN Human Rights body reveals that between December 2023 and November 2024 alone, it documented 60 new incidents of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, impacting at least 83 victims.

This brings the total number of documented cases to 120, affecting 203 individuals, including children as young as seven.

“In over 70 percent of the documented cases, men in RSF uniforms and armed groups affiliated with the RSF were implicated,” Seif Magango, spokesperson for the OHCHR, tells TRT World.

However, these reported cases are only a fraction of the actual incidents, as survivors and their families often face threats, especially when the perpetrators are connected to the RSF.

The UN spokesperson notes that stigma, fear of reprisals, internet shutdowns, and the collapse of Sudan’s medical and judicial systems have made it exceedingly difficult for survivors to come forward.

“Only six incidents documented by OHCHR since the conflict erupted were reported to judicial authorities,” he adds.

Earlier this week, a new report by the Human Rights Watch brought to light the scale of sexual violence in South Kordofan state.

“The abuses constitute war crimes and included killings, rapes, and abductions of ethnic Nuba residents, as well as the looting and destruction of homes,” the human rights watchdog said.

In 79 documented cases, survivors described being gang-raped in front of their families or detained for extended periods as sex slaves by RSF fighters.

One survivor recounted the ethnic hatred displayed during the assault, with her attackers calling her a “slave” because of her Nuba ethnicity, saying, “These Nuba are our slaves, we can do anything we want.”

A pattern of atrocities

These abuses are not isolated incidents but part of a systemic and coordinated pattern, as highlighted by the top UN human rights entity.

“Reports of sexual violence appeared to follow a geographical pattern as the fighting spread across the country,” Magango says.

Reports indicate that incidents of sexual violence occurred in Al-Gazira state following RSF’s control of large parts of the region in January 2024 and again in October 2024 during intensified hostilities.

Similar patterns were observed in El Fasher, North Darfur, after the escalation of violence in May 2024, the UN Human Rights Office tells TRT World.

One case documented in February 2024 in South Darfur detailed how five RSF fighters gang-raped a woman, taking turns in a sequence determined by their ranks, as recounted by the survivor.

“More than half of the reported rape incidents took the form of gang rape, which has been a consistent trend since April 2023, indicating a coordinated use of sexual violence in the context of the conflict, mainly by the RSF and their allied Arab militia, which may amount to a war crime,” the spokesperson adds.

Sexual violence in West Darfur, too, has often been linked to ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF against the Masalit community.

In one chilling incident from June 2023, an RSF soldier told a Masalit woman, “This year, all Masalit girls will deliver our children,” reflecting the ethnic hatred driving these crimes.

Reports also reveal women and girls being held in slave-like conditions by RSF fighters and allied militias, where they endure repeated rapes, often resulting in pregnancies.

“Reports of pregnancy and children born as a result of rape increased fivefold compared to the previous reporting period,” Magango reveals.

The collapse of Sudan’s healthcare system has compounded the suffering of survivors.

Attacks on facilities like the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, North Darfur, the only centre providing services for sexual violence survivors in the region, have left victims without essential medical and psychosocial support.

“Victims are unable to access emergency contraception or post-exposure prophylaxis,” says Magango.

“They also face life-altering complications like fistulas that go untreated due to the lack of surgical care.”

How it started

The civil war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, primarily due to tensions between the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti).

Both leaders had been allies in the 2019 coup, but after the ouster of Sudan's then-president Omar al Bashir, they clashed over power-sharing, particularly the integration of the RSF into the army as part of the country's transition to civilian rule.

Efforts to broker peace collapsed, leading to intense fighting, especially in the capital Khartoum and the Darfur region.

As a result of this power struggle, a severe humanitarian crisis is currently unfolding, particularly in Darfur, and many of Sudan's previously secure regions are now experiencing a civil war.

The fighting has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and displaced over 14 million people, according to estimates from the UN and local authorities.