Shadow of Sexual Violence on Women and Children in Sudan, RSF Held Responsible

Dec 12, 2025
International

Image: Documentation of systematic sexual violence against women in Sudan (Collected. Al Jazeera. Amr Abdullah Dalsh/Reuters)

International Desk: PNN

A human rights organization has documented at least 1,300 cases of sexual and gender-based violence in war-torn Sudan, most attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The report by Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) on Thursday notes that 1,294 incidents across 14 states were verified since the brutal civil war began in April 2023.

The organization states that sexual violence is being used systematically as a weapon of war. Of the cases where perpetrators were identified, 87% were RSF fighters. The violations were described as “widespread, repeated, deliberate, and often targeted.”

Three-quarters of the incidents involved rape, and 225 cases involved children as young as four.

RSF attacks occur in three stages: home invasions with looting and rape, assaults in public areas, and long-term detention, torture, gang rape, and forced marriage.

Non-Arab women in Darfur, including Masalit, Berti, Fur, and Zaghawa communities, were directly targeted. Witnesses in Al-Gezira state said light-skinned girls aged 14–30 were treated as “trophies.”

In a recent incident, 19 new rapes were reported at Al-Fad camp, with two victims pregnant and receiving medical care.

The conflict has shifted to the Kordofan region. RSF holds strong positions in the west, advancing into cities. On December 8, after seizing the Heglig oil field near the South Sudan border, both sides agreed that South Sudanese troops would secure the site, which is economically important for both countries.

Casualties: On December 5, over 100 were killed in a preschool attack in Kalogi, including 46 children. After October, at least 269 civilians died due to strategic violence, with the real number likely higher. 12.4 million are displaced, and 3.3 million are refugees.

Internationally, the US sanctioned four Colombian citizens for recruiting over 300 soldiers for RSF, though UAE-based companies involved were not targeted.