The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have been implicated in widespread acts of sexual violence, including gang rape and forced marriages, in the capital, Khartoum. This alarming information comes from a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), highlighting the dire human rights situation amid the ongoing civil war.
Disturbing Accounts of Abuse
The HRW report reveals that the RSF has been responsible for numerous atrocities since the conflict with Sudan’s armed forces began in April 2023. The report includes harrowing accounts of women and girls being held in conditions tantamount to sexual slavery and being assaulted in front of their families. Although the RSF and the army have both denied responsibility for abuses, the RSF has stated that it will take measures to prevent human rights violations.
One woman, living in an RSF-controlled area, recounted that she slept with a knife under her pillow for months for protection. A midwife from the same area spoke of the constant fear of RSF raids, noting, “They do not raid just for looting; they specifically target houses where women are present.”
Many survivors have faced significant barriers when seeking to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape. Men and boys have also been victims of sexual assault. The RSF has controlled most of Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman since the war’s early days, which began as both sides vied for power during a planned political transition after the 2019 overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Impact on Survivors and Worsening Conditions
The conflict has also intensified ethnically motivated violence in Darfur, where the RSF and allied militias have been accused of attacking the Masalit ethnic group, including sexual assaults. Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), highlighted that women from the Nuba mountains have also been targeted around Khartoum and Omdurman.
Emergency response volunteer Nidal Ahmed reported that any small movement by women could make them direct targets, with female volunteers suffering detentions and rapes. She added that a colleague was directly targeted and killed in late 2023.
Reports of sexual violence have surged since the army took control of Omdurman in early 2024. HRW’s findings underscore the urgent need for international attention and action to protect vulnerable populations and address the widespread abuses occurring in Sudan.
Urgent Call for Action
Many survivors who sought to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape faced barriers to doing so, according to the report. Men and boys have also been sexually assaulted, it added. The RSF has controlled most of Khartoum and its sister cities Bahri and Omdurman since the opening days of the war, which began as both sides jostled to protect their power under a planned political transition following the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
The conflict has stirred up ethnically-motivated killings in the western region of Darfur, where the RSF and allied militias are accused of leading a campaign of attacks including sexual assaults against the Masalit ethnic group.
Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), said in a press conference for the report’s launch that Masalit women as well as women from the Nuba mountains had also been targeted around Khartoum and Omdurman.
“Any small movement by a woman makes her a direct target. The female volunteers in the emergency response room have suffered detentions,” said Nidal Ahmed, an emergency response volunteer in Khartoum.
“They have been raped as service providers,” she told the press conference.
A colleague had been directly targeted and killed in late 2023, she added.
Source: Reuters
