Rights group accuses RSF of systematic sexual violence in Sudan's civil war

"A women's rights organisation has documented nearly 1,300 cases of endemic sexual and gender-based violence across war-torn Sudan, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) blamed for the overwhelming majority of attacks. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) released findings on Thursday showing it had verified 1,294 incidents spanning 14 states since Sudan's brutal civil war started in April 2023."

"Rape accounted for more than three-quarters of documented incidents, while 225 cases involved children as young as four years old. The group outlined a calculated three-stage pattern accompanying RSF territorial advances. Initial home invasions and looting accompanied by rape, followed by attacks in public spaces as control solidifies, and finally the long-term detention of women subjected to torture, gang rape and forced marriage."

"Women and girls from non-Arab tribes in Darfur, including the Masalit, Berti, Fur and Zaghawa, were directly targeted, the report said. In Al-Gezira state, witnesses described RSF forces singling out lighter-skinned girls and women aged 14 to 30 as trophies. Just last week, the Sudan Doctors Network, a medical monitoring organisation, documented 19 additional rape cases at al-Afad Camp in al-Dabba, where women fleeing the recently fallen city of el-Fasher were attacked by RSF forces. Two survivors are pregnant and receiving care."

SIHA verified 1,294 incidents of sexual and gender-based violence across 14 states in Sudan since April 2023. The RSF were identified as perpetrators in 87 percent of cases where perpetrators were named. Rape comprised over three-quarters of incidents, and 225 cases involved children as young as four. Attacks followed a three-stage pattern: initial home invasions and looting with rape, subsequent assaults in public spaces as control firmed, and long-term detention involving torture, gang rape and forced marriage. Non-Arab tribes in Darfur and lighter-skinned girls in Al-Gezira were specifically targeted. Recent medical monitoring recorded additional cases and pregnant survivors receiving care.

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