When a member of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed Aisha’s home in Khartoum, he gave her two harrowing choices: marry him or watch her father be killed. She didn’t take long to decide—she traded her freedom for her father’s life. “I was afraid for my father, so I agreed to the marriage,” the young woman says.
Aisha (22), who asked to use a pseudonym, was held captive for an entire year in a house not far from her family’s home, where she was repeatedly raped and beaten, eventually resulting in a miscarriage.
Before the outbreak of war in 2023, Aisha was an Information Technology student. But after the conflict began and she was forced into marriage, she says she became “psychologically shattered,” speaking to Agence France-Presse with a trembling voice.
Systematic Sexual Violence
According to estimates from both governmental and non-governmental organizations, thousands of Sudanese women have fallen victim to sexual violence since the war began in April 2023 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Sudan’s government-run Combating Violence Against Women Unit has documented 1,138 cases of sexual violence since the start of the war. However, its director, Salima Ishaq Al-Khalifa, says this figure represents “only 10 percent of the actual number.”
International organizations accuse the RSF of using systematic sexual violence—including rape, sexual slavery, and forced marriage—as a weapon in its war against the regular army.
Psychological Counseling and Health Services
In Port Sudan, a city in eastern Sudan that has so far largely escaped the violence, some survivors have found refuge at the “Aman” center.
Since its establishment in August 2024, Aman has assisted over 1,600 women fleeing sexual violence, offering psychological counseling, medical and legal services, and even vocational training in baking, sewing, and embroidery.
Inside a modest house in a quiet neighborhood of Port Sudan, the survivors at Aman share bedrooms and a small kitchen where they eat together. On the other side is a living room with a television.
Despite its simplicity, the house provides a comfort that hundreds of thousands of Sudanese women have been denied.
In her office at Aman, psychological counselor Lubna Ali reviews the files of women who have contacted the center, which supports women from the Darfur, Al-Jazirah, Khartoum, and other states.
“Most of the cases we receive involve gang rape,” she says. “We had a case of a girl who was raped by 10 militia fighters,” referring to the RSF.
One-Third of the Victims Are Minors
According to Ali, one-third (33.5%) of the sexual violence victims at the center are minors, and many arrive pregnant.
Aman helps survivors relocate from the areas where they were attacked and supports them in resuming their education after a stay of three to four months—or until pregnant survivors give birth.
Shocking Statistics
Aman also provides counseling for girls who choose to give up children born from rape for adoption. The center warns that the number of victims is expected to rise in the coming period.
Ali emphasizes the importance of privacy and respect for survivors, saying, “The first thing we tell them is that their mental and physical health is what matters most.”
The war in Sudan, now in its third year, has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million people, and triggered what the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history.
At Aman, 23-year-old Salma sits in the small living room, reading a book and sipping tea. She fled from the city of Al-Hasaheisa in Al-Jazirah State (central Sudan), where she was assaulted by RSF fighters.
Salma, also using a pseudonym, says she and three other women were sexually harassed by RSF fighters who broke into the house where they were hiding.
“There were eight of them. They beat and harassed us, raped some of us, and struck others with weapons—I was one of them,” she recalls. “I went into shock because I saw something I can’t forget.”
By December 2023, hundreds of thousands of women had fled Al-Jazirah, where RSF fighters had invaded and besieged several villages.
Struggling to Move On
Earlier this year, the army retook control of Al-Jazirah and pushed RSF forces out. However, Salma, now displaced in Port Sudan, says she still cannot move past what happened.
“I want to complete my studies and focus on my future, but often I find myself drowning in thoughts about what I went through,” she says.
Amina (23), now a psychological counselor at Aman, offers support to other residents after being detained herself in Khartoum for 11 days due to her brother’s government ties.
Amina and dozens of other girls were subjected to “the worst kinds of treatment,” including forced marriages and being held as hostages for negotiation purposes.
Help in Egypt, Too
In Egypt, which has received 1.5 million Sudanese refugees since the war began, therapist Sara Montaser meets at least five rape survivors daily at a support center in Cairo.
She explains that survivors must actively participate in their treatment plans, noting that due to the trauma they experienced, “they can no longer sleep or live normal lives.”
Amina reflects, “We’re victims of something we had no hand in, no choic
e about—why did all this happen to us?”
