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“Death is better than rape,” Arabi21 reported, describing the “harrowing words” of a victim of sexual violence in Sudan.
Rights organisations estimate the number of such cases to be far higher than officially reported, with countless survivors receiving no help or care.
Some victims, left to suffer in silence, endure nightmares so overwhelming that they consider suicide as a means to escape the pain and the stigma of rape.
Rape has become a weapon of war since the conflict erupted in Sudan in April 2023. The scope of sexual violence in this war goes beyond rape, encompassing sexual slavery, human trafficking and forced pregnancies. The Sudanese government’s Unit of Combating Violence Against Women and Children (CVAW) has documented 331 cases, according to its head, Salima Is’haq.
However there are challenges in monitoring and documenting such abuse.
Victims have reported being forced to trade sexual favours in return for vital humanitarian aid in areas under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In early November, a UN report revealed that militia fighters who raped and attacked minority groups in Darfur threatened to force them to have “Arab babies” and used ethnic slurs during their attacks.
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