Sexual Violence Used to Terrorize Civilians in Sudan

GENEVA, Jun 23:  Sexual violence has been systematically used as a “weapon of war” during Sudan’s conflict, with hundreds of verified cases likely representing only a fraction of the true scale of abuses, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report released Tuesday.

The report documented 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states between the start of the conflict in April 2023 and mid-April 2026. The cases affected at least 838 victims, including 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys .

According to the report, sexual violence has followed both the geographic spread of the fighting and displacement routes, and has been used to terrorize and traumatize civilians.

“As I warned at the end of my mission to Sudan in January, sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said. “This is a war crime and, if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, a crime against humanity.”

Most verified incidents were attributed to men in Rapid Support Forces uniforms, affiliated groups and Arab militias, though abuses were also linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces and other armed actors.

The report documented rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and sexual torture. It said at least 85 women and girls were held in sexual slavery, while at least 59 victims became pregnant or gave birth after rape. At least 13 victims , including women, men and children, died, most after brutal gang rapes. The youngest victim was nine years old.

Turk warned that impunity was fueling further abuses and called for independent investigations and accountability for all perpetrators, including those with command responsibility.