In Sudan, rape is used as a weapon of war – DW – 07/02/2024

Halima (not her real name) has lived in different displacement camps for as long as she can remember. Every time she thought she had found safety, another attack would occur, forcing her to move again and again.

She told DW that memories of being upset so frequently kept her awake at night.

In June 2023, fighters belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the El Geneina region, the capital of West Darfur, where she lived with her family.

Halima heard the militants arrive on their motorbikes. “They found me in my room,” she said. “Four of them threatened me with weapons. One of them strangled me and raped me.”

She suffered multiple injuries but eventually managed to escape and cross the border into Chad. She felt safe there, but was unable to find the medical help she so badly needed after her ordeal.

Many women and children in the camps in Chad have spoken out about this problem, while reports of sexual violence within the camps are also on the rise.

Gender-based violence based on ethnic criteria

The majority of people who fled war-torn Sudan are now in camps in eastern Chad, in places like Adré.

Halima is one of them. She believes that the RSF militiamen raped her mainly because she is from the Massalit ethnic group, which was the majority population in the town of El Geneina until the RSF brutally attacked its citizens last year.

Another young woman in the camp, Hadija (name changed), corroborates Halima's impression.

She remembers her attacker asking her which tribe she belonged to. “I didn't tell him I was Massalit,” she told DW. “I said I belonged to the Four tribe.”

He threatened to kill her if she was Massalit, adding that the Massalit would never own land in Sudan in the future.

Hawa (name changed) survived a similar attack in June 2023.

She told DW that an RSF fighter entered her home and shot her 20-year-old cousin. She then heard her mother and aunt being beaten.

“He also beat me with a whip, a stick, a water container,” she said. “Then he threw me on the bed and raped me.”

It was only days later that she was finally able to find a hospital; she had needed stitches after the attack and still feels pain when she walks.

The survivors' accounts are confirmed by Human Rights Watch, which has documented numerous atrocities of a similar nature, warning of a potential genocide against the Massalit people in West Darfur.

RSF did not respond to DW's requests for comment.

The world's largest displacement crisis

In a report on gender-based violence released in late 2023, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said women and girls in Sudan have borne the brunt of the conflict, including an “alarming” increase in levels of sexual violence.

Many of those seeking asylum elsewhere say they have experienced or witnessed harassment, kidnapping, rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and other forms of violence during their journey to safety.

For more than a year, Sudanese armed forces have been fighting the RSF in a brutal battle for control of the country.

The conflict has forced millions of people to flee their homes since April 2023, bringing the number of displaced people to around 12 million by June 2024.

According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), more than 2 million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries since the conflict began. But the vast majority of them – more than 10 million people – remain in Sudan, representing the world's largest displacement crisis.

Aid agencies stress that there is a massive funding gap to address the situation unfolding in Sudan and across the region.

Increase in rape rates

Abdirahman Ali, CARE International's Sudan country director, confirmed the rapid increase in the rate of gender-based violence reported across Sudan, particularly in areas currently experiencing the most violence, such as Darfur, Khartoum, Al Jazirah State and other regions.

Ali told DW that, particularly in refugee camps, violence against women and girls continues, adding that the situation is compounded by difficulties in delivering emergency food aid, clean water, health care and nutrition.

The biggest challenge, he said, is getting medical and nutritional supplies across the border from Chad into Sudan for internally displaced people.

“There are many areas [where] “We are unable to access or even deliver aid due to the ongoing conflict and restrictions that do not allow us, as humanitarian workers, to reach people in need,” he said.

According to the IRC, 90% of people crossing the region's borders in search of safety are women and children. One in five young children suffer from acute malnutrition.

Psychological support for those affected by gender-based violence is also difficult to obtain, Ali said: “There are multiple displacements. Communities and internationally displaced people move from one place to another, which complicates the situation. [efforts] “to provide continued support to this population.”

Escape to Chad and beyond

Before the conflict began, Sudan was already experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis caused by long-standing political instability and economic pressures in the country.

The war has only made these conditions worse, leaving nearly 25 million people – more than half of Sudan's population – in need, according to the IRC.

More than 600,000 people have crossed the border into Chad, which was already hosting 400,000 Sudanese refugees before the outbreak of the conflict.

That is why the IRC has also expanded its essential services to support Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries beyond Chad, including Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Human rights obligations ignored

Ali demands that parties involved in the conflict respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilian populations and infrastructure.

For the human rights situation to improve, he said, there should also be guarantees for humanitarian workers delivering aid.

“It is necessary for the parties to the conflict to sit down at the negotiating table and ensure that this crisis is brought to an end,” he said. “It is causing untold human suffering to the Sudanese people.”

Despite the trauma, both Hawa and Halima hope to return to their former lives; Hawa dreams of finishing her studies in economics to work “as an accountant or a business administrator.”

Halima also wants to get her life back. “If things get better, I want to go to university,” she says. “I am a midwife, but I want to become a doctor.”

Mariel Müller contributed to this article

Edited by: Sertan Sanderson