GENEVA (23 June 2026) – A UN Human Rights report issued
Tuesday lays bare the brutality and magnitude of
conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak
of the conflict in April 2023, and its profound, long-term
impacts on victims, families and communities.
The
report finds that sexual violence has accompanied the
geographic spread of the conflict, as well as displacement
journeys. It has been used consistently as a tactic to
terrorize and traumatize the civilian
population.
“Unless the patterns and impacts of
conflict-related sexual violence are addressed through
justice, victim-centred responses and efforts to tackle
stigma and discrimination, peace and social cohesion in
Sudan risk being undermined for years to come,” says the
report.
“As I warned at the end of my mission to Sudan
in January, sexual violence is being used as a weapon of
war. This is a war crime and, if committed as part of a
widespread or systematic attack, a crime against humanity,”
said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker
Türk.
In Darfur, there are reasonable grounds to
believe that some acts of sexual violence, committed in the
context of a widespread and systematic attack against the
civilian population, may amount to crimes against humanity,
says the report.
The UN Human Rights Office has
verified 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence
in 16 of the 18 states of Sudan from the beginning of the
conflict to mid-April this year, affecting at least 838
victims – 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven
boys.
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These figures represent only the tip of the
iceberg of the actual magnitude of incidents, says the
report, as persistent underreporting has obscured the full
scale of the prevalence of sexual violence.
Most of
the verified incidents were attributed to men in Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) uniforms, its affiliates and Arab
militias. Incidents have also been attributed to the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), affiliated security actors, the
Joint Forces, other armed movements and armed
militias.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, says the
report, sexual violence has been perpetrated in conjunction
with systematic and coordinated attacks on civilians as a
tactic of war. Forms of sexual violence documented by the
Office include rape and gang rape, sexual slavery, forced
marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture, and
trafficking for the purpose of sexual violence.
Almost
a quarter of the incidents involved gang rape. One
documented attack involved at least 10 perpetrators who
raped a girl. Repeated patterns include the use of sexual
violence as a means of controlling civilian movement,
abductions linked to sexual violence, sexual slavery and
sexual violence in detention. The UN Human Rights Office has
documented the cases of at least 85 women and girls who were
held in sexual slavery and compelled to undertake domestic
labour and generate income.
The report also documents
the deaths of at least 13 victims (women, men and children),
mostly following brutal gang rapes. The youngest was
nine years old. Many more suffered from
serious medical complications exacerbated by the absence of
functioning health facilities. At least 59 women and girls
became pregnant or bore children from rape.
Sexual
violence has been perpetrated as retaliation based on
perceived affiliation with specific parties, in addition to
ethnically motivated attacks, the report finds. Many ethnic
Masalit victims from West Darfur shared that attackers asked
about their tribe before raping them. Victims reported
having been told, in 2023, “This year, all of you
Masalit girls will deliver our children,” and “If
you are Masalit, we will slaughter you
today”.
Türk called for timely, independent and
impartial investigations into acts of sexual violence
committed during the conflict, in order to ensure
accountability.
“Persistent impunity is clearly
deepening harms and reinforcing cycles of violations and
abuses,” Türk said.
“All perpetrators, including
those exercising command responsibility, must be held fully
accountable, and victims must be guaranteed access to
effective remedy, including reparation.”
It calls on
the parties to the conflict to, among other things, take
concrete and verifiable measures to prevent sexual violence
and urges the international community to ensure justice and
accountability remain central to their support for efforts
towards a ceasefire and resolution of the
conflict.
