In South Darfur, Sudan, 18-year-old Hanaan (not her real name) and her friend were raped by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As they walked to a displacement camp, four men on motorcycles stopped and assaulted them. In her testimony to MSF, Hanaan said, "I feel uncomfortable in my body, heavy. I have pain in my back – because they beat me, they beat me with their guns on my back."

This testimony is part of a report released by MSF on Tuesday, detailing the widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon in Sudan's ongoing brutal civil war. The organization reported that 3,396 survivors of sexual violence sought treatment at MSF-supported health facilities in North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025.

The report emphasizes that "this war is being fought on the backs and bodies of women and girls." MSF emergency health manager Ruth Kauffman stated that sexual violence is a defining feature of this conflict – not confined to front lines but pervasive across communities. Displacement, collapsing community support systems, lack of access to healthcare, and deep-rooted gender inequalities are allowing these abuses to continue across Sudan.

Following the RSF's capture of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on October 26, 2025, MSF treated over 140 survivors fleeing to Tawila. Among them, 94% were attacked by armed men, with many reporting assaults along escape routes. The report noted that assaults "deliberately targeted non-Arab communities as a means of humiliation and terror, echoing previous RSF atrocities such as the dismantling of Zamzam camp" in April 2025.

Survivors described attacks not only during fighting but in everyday settings like fields, markets, and displacement camps. Children were also among the survivors: in South Darfur, one in five survivors was under 18, including 41 children younger than five. MSF called on the United Nations, donors, and humanitarian actors to urgently scale up health and protection services in Darfur and all of Sudan, and on all parties to the conflict to cease and prevent sexual violence and hold perpetrators accountable.

Source: www.aljazeera.com