A new UN report has documented the brutal and widespread use of conflict-related sexual violence across Sudan, warning that rape, gang rape, sexual slavery and other abuses have followed the geographic spread of the war and are being used to terrorize civilians.
The report by the UN Human Rights Office, published on June 23, found that sexual violence has been recorded in 16 of Sudan’s 18 states since the conflict erupted, with victims facing deep and long-term trauma that has devastated families and entire communities.
The UN said the violence has been used “as a tactic to terrorize and traumatize the civilian population,” warning that Sudan’s prospects for peace and social cohesion could be undermined for years unless survivors receive justice, protection and victim-centered support.
“Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. “This is a war crime and, if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, may amount to a crime against humanity.”
The UN Human Rights Office said it had verified 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence between the start of the war and mid-April this year. Those cases involved at least 838 victims, including 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys.
But the report stressed that the verified cases represent only a fraction of the real scale of abuses, as stigma, fear of retaliation, lack of safe reporting channels and the collapse of health and legal services continue to prevent many survivors from coming forward.
The report also attributed incidents to General al-Burhan’s army (SAF), affiliated security actors, the Joint Force and other armed groups and militias, underscoring the role of the SAF-led war apparatus and allied armed formations in the spread of conflict-related sexual violence. It said number of verified incidents were also attributed to men wearing Rapid Support Forces uniforms, affiliated groups and Arab militias.
The report said sexual violence has been committed alongside systematic and coordinated attacks on civilians, making it one of the defining tools of the war. Documented abuses included rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture, trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual violence in detention.
Gang rape accounted for nearly a quarter of the documented incidents, the UN said.
The report also documented the cases of at least 85 women and girls who were held in conditions of sexual slavery and forced to carry out domestic labor or income-generating work. At least 13 victims, including women, men and children, were killed, most after brutal gang rapes. The youngest victim was nine years old.
Many survivors suffered severe medical complications, worsened by the collapse of Sudan’s health system and the absence of functioning medical facilities in many areas. At least 59 women and girls became pregnant or gave birth as a result of rape, the report said.
The UN also found that sexual violence was used as retaliation based on victims’ perceived affiliation with parties to the conflict, as well as in ethnically targeted attacks. Several Masalit victims in West Darfur said attackers asked about their ethnicity before raping them.
Survivors also reported hearing attackers use explicitly ethnic threats during 2023, including statements that Masalit girls would be forced to bear their children or be killed because of their identity.
Türk said the continuing lack of accountability was deepening the harm and entrenching cycles of abuse.
“Impunity clearly compounds the harm and perpetuates cycles of violations and abuses,” he said, calling for all perpetrators to be held fully accountable, including those bearing command responsibility.
The report called for effective remedies for survivors, including reparations, access to medical and psychosocial care, protection from stigma and discrimination, and independent investigations capable of bringing those responsible to justice.
