KEY POINTS
- The Sudanese army launched a major offensive against RSF-held areas in Khartoum.
- Sexual violence, especially by RSF forces, has become a defining element of the conflict.
- Women and families endure brutality and lawlessness, with many forced to flee their homes.
After 17 months of brutal civil war that has turned Sudan upside down, the army launched a major offensive in the capital, Khartoum, targeting areas held by its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF seized most of Khartoum at the start of the conflict, while the army controls the twin city of Omdurman, located just across the River Nile. However, there are still places where people can cross between the two sides.
Some women recounted the horrible experiences that they have had to go through at the hands of RSF.
They stated that their husbands no longer leave the house because RSF fighters beat them, take their earnings, or detain them and demand money for their release.
“We put up with this struggle so that we can provide for our kids.” One woman murmured,
“We need food; we’re hungry.”
“So many women in this room have experienced sexual assault, but they never discuss it.
Her mother was sitting there crying, with her head in her hands, as she spoke. They were surrounded by other weeping women.
Sexual violence as a weapon of war
Travelers described enduring lawlessness, looting, and brutality in a conflict that the United Nations says has forced more than 10.5 million people to flee their homes.
Rape is being used as “a weapon of war,” according to Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A recent fact-finding mission by the United Nations revealed multiple instances of rape and threats of rape by army personnel. However, they found that the RSF and its affiliated militias were largely responsible for widespread sexual assault, which amounted to violating international law.
Since the war began, the market has expanded across barren land on a desert road out of Omdurman, attracting the poorest of the poor with its low prices.
Miriam (not her real name) had fled her home in Dar es Salaam to seek refuge with her brother. She now works at a tea stall. But early in the war, she said, two armed men entered her house and tried to rape her daughters, ages 17 and 10.
“I told the girls to stay behind me, and I said to the RSF, ‘If you want to rape anyone, it has to be me,’” she said. “They hit me and ordered me to take off my clothes. Before I did, I told my girls to leave.
They took the other children and jumped over the fence. Then one of the men lay on top of me.”
According to a report by Ghana Web, the RSF has told international investigators that it has taken all necessary measures to prevent sexual violence and other human rights violations.
However, the accounts of sexual assault are numerous and consistent, and the damage is lasting.
Fatima (Not her real name) also said that one of her neighbors, a 15-year-old girl, had become pregnant after four RSF soldiers raped her and her 17-year-old sister.
Fatima stated, “People heard screams and went outside to see what was going on, but the armed men threatened to shoot them if they didn’t go back inside.”
“We discovered the two girls, clearly abused, and their older brother imprisoned in a room the following morning.”
