Sudanese sexual violence used as weapon of war, aid group says

Thousands of women and girls have sought treatment for sexual violence in war-torn Sudan for nearly two years, with rape being used as a weapon in the country’s brutal conflict, Doctors Without Borders said on Tuesday.The aid group, known by its French abbreviation MSF, said at least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence were receiving treatment in its facilities between January 2024 and November 2025. Most survivors believed the attackers were armed, while 60 per cent of cases reported in South Darfur involved multiple perpetrators.The Associated Press cited a report released on Tuesday in which Doctors Without Borders documented accounts of women who were gang-raped in South and North Darfur states, underscoring that the alleged crisis is much wider than current data suggests.One survivor described her ordeal in a report, saying: “They took us to an open area. The first man raped me twice, the second raped me once and the third man raped me four times.”Myriam Laroussi, emergency coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières, said the numbers recorded in the report reflected only a fraction of the violence.After the fall of Fasher in late 2025, Laroussi said at a launch conference for the report in Nairobi, Kenya, that these figures were just the “tip of the iceberg” and that the scale of sexual violence was likely to be much greater in areas that MSF cannot access.Medical staff say survivors often face severe delays in accessing treatment. MSF midwife Gloria Endreo said Tavira’s medical teams see an average of 10 to 15 women a day, with most arriving after the first 72 hours, a critical period for treating injuries and trauma, preventing infections and avoiding unwanted pregnancies.She said many victims had to walk for days or ride camels to reach care centres.“As health care practitioners, we consider 72 hours to be a prime time period because we provide a lot of care during that time,” Endreo said.Andrezza Traggiano, a sexual health expert at Médecins Sans Frontières, said the violence also had a profound impact on the entire community.In some cases, girls were raped in front of their mothers and grandparents, she said. Fear of sexual assault also prevents some people from engaging in daily activities such as farming.“Will we continue to allow the bodies of women and girls to be used as weapons of war?” she said.Médecins Sans Frontières urges the United Nations to strengthen its presence in Sudan to better respond to the needs of affected communities.In April 2023, Sudan descended into chaos as a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into open fighting in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The International Criminal Court is investigating mass killings, gang rapes and other abuses related to the conflict as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.The war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to the United Nations, but aid groups say the actual toll is likely much higher.Fighting has intensified recently in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, with daily reports of deadly attacks there, mostly drone strikes. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that as of mid-March, more than 500 civilians had been killed in drone strikes this year.