Doctors Without Borders: Sexual Violence in Sudan Is an Almost Constant Threat

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) has warned that sexual violence poses an almost constant threat to women and girls in the Darfur region of western Sudan, calling for urgent action.

Since the war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the reported cases have been horrific and brutal, according to Claire San Filippo, Emergency Coordinator at MSF.

Shocking Numbers

The organization reported that it treated 659 survivors in South Darfur between January 2024 and March 2025, with 86 percent confirming they had been raped. One-third of the survivors were under the age of 18, and some were as young as five.

“Women and girls don’t feel safe anywhere,” said San Filippo.

She explained that they are attacked in their homes, while fleeing violence, searching for food or firewood, or while working in the fields.

Men and boys are also subjected to sexual violence, although to a lesser extent—94 percent of survivors are women and girls, according to MSF.

Tragedies and Horrors

At a hospital in the town of Tawila, 60 kilometers west of El Fasher—the besieged capital of North Darfur State—48 survivors were treated between January and early May. Most had fled an RSF attack on the Zamzam displacement camp, which killed at least 200 civilians and forced more than 400,000 to flee.

In eastern Chad, where over 800,000 Sudanese have taken refuge, half of the 44,000 survivors treated by MSF since January were children.

A 17-year-old girl reported that she was gang-raped by RSF fighters, saying: “I wished I could lose my memory after that.”

Systematic Violence

According to Ruth Kaufman, MSF’s Emergency Medical Officer, access to healthcare remains insufficient.

“As with all humanitarian and medical services in Sudan, this support urgently needs to be scaled up,” she said.

Both sides have been accused of committing atrocities, but the RSF has been held responsible for systematic sexual violence. In April, Amnesty International reported cases of sexual slavery.