Sudan paramilitary uses sexual violence as 'weapon of war' against ethnic groups in Darfur: Report

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias are systematically using sexual violence as a “weapon of war” to control civilians in Darfur, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said in a report on Tuesday.

Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict since April 2023, with the Sudanese army and RSF clashing violently. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced roughly 11 million people, with sexual violence emerging as a widespread and deliberate tactic.

Thousands of survivors seek treatment

Between January 2024 and November 2025, at least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence sought care at MSF-supported facilities across North and South Darfur, 97 percent of them women and girls. MSF cautioned that this number represents only a fraction of the true scale of the atrocities. Their report combines survivor testimonies with medical data to reveal the deliberate and systematic nature of these assaults.

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Survivors “frequently and clearly” identified RSF fighters as the perpetrators, the report noted. “Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war and a systematic means of controlling civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law,” MSF said.

Targeting ethnic groups

During the RSF’s April attack on Zamzam camp, which is home to nearly 500,000 people, testimonies from 150 survivors indicate that armed groups targeted specific ethnic communities, particularly the non-Arab Zaghawa. One 28-year-old survivor recounted her ordeal: “They were four and each raped me, while some held my arms and others my legs,” according to the report.

Other attacks occurred in El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur, which fell in October 2025. A UN fact-finding mission has described atrocities there as “acts of genocide.”

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Violence extends beyond frontlines

MSF documented assaults far from battle zones, with women attacked while travelling, farming, shopping in markets, or staying in displacement camps. A 40-year-old woman in Jebel Marra said, “There is no way to stop the rapes. The only way is to try to stay home, and to not go out as much.”

In just one month, between December 2025 and January 2026, MSF identified 732 survivors in displacement camps, many assaulted while fleeing or even inside the camps themselves.

“This war is being fought on the backs and bodies of women and girls,” said Ruth Kauffman, MSF’s emergency health manager. She described sexual violence as a “defining feature” of the conflict, which is now entering its fourth year.