‘Sexual violence remains a weapon of war in Sudan. It must be addressed internationally’

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When Yosra Akasha heard, barely two days after war broke out in Sudan, that women had been raped two streets away, her decision was quickly made. Leaving was the only option. Three days later, she and members of her family arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

‘I was living in the centre of Khartoum. And when you know that women were raped in their own homes, you know that the perpetrators went into the neighbourhoods and invaded the houses. This means that all women are targeted and can become victims of sexual violence.’

Akasha, a feminist and women’s rights activist, is one of 12 million Sudanese who have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023, and one of more than 3 million Sudanese refugees who have sought safety outside their country’s borders. She is among the ‘privileged’. She was able to settle quickly in another country and pick up the threads of her life from there.

‘When women and girls are raped, it is the men who are targeted. Because it means the men are worthless because they abandoned the women and could not protect them. Their honour is damaged that way.’

Akasha sees her flight as a direct result of the sexual violence. That violence is more than a side effect of war or an incidental problem in a war situation, she says. ‘Sexual violence is a weapon of war. It humiliates communities and drives people to flee. When women and girls are raped, it is the men who are targeted. Because it means the men are worthless because they abandoned the women and could not protect them. Their honour is damaged that way.’

It is the reason why warring factions target women deemed to belong to the community of ‘the enemy’. ‘Whether these women are effectively or hypothetically part of the other side’s community does not matter’, Akasha knows. ‘This is why in wars, women of a certain class, clan or ethnicity are targeted. Sudan is unfortunately a good example of this.’

Social stigma and fear of retribution

The war tactic of sexual violence is heavily used in the current conflict in Sudan. This erupted on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese government army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group led by the infamous Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

Several organisations have already raised the alarm and reported on the widespread use of sexual violence. In November 2024, for instance, Plan International reported a "significant" increase in sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan.

Human Rights Watch reported in December 2024 on gang rape and sexual slavery in areas where displaced people had settled, in southern Kordofan. All these crimes were committed by the Rapid Support Force (RSF) and allied militias, HRW wrote in its report.

Many atrocities were committed in central Gezira state when the Rapid Support Forces took control of the region. But the story of mass suicide has more to do with Sudan’s past than the current war, Akasha says. That this story has been revived, she says, shows how great the impact of sexual violence can be, not only on the individual but on the whole society.

‘The impact of sexual violence does not end with the end of the war, but can linger for decades.’ The mass suicide of women and girls took place during the Mahdi uprising, from 1881 to 1899, and the story recurs again and again and is a source of pride for Sudanese society to this day.

‘While those victims may not have known how to continue within their own families after becoming victims of sexual violence, they are seen by society as heroines. This confirms the narrative that Sudanese women are good women, protecting themselves from rape and defending their honour at all costs. You see this reflected in cinema, for example, and now also in the story about the mass suicide in Gezira, which could not be confirmed.’

Impunity

‘Sexual violence against women and girls is widespread in Sudan and has long been a major problem, not only during periods of war but also in peacetime’, says Yosra Akasha. ‘The conflict in which sexual violence received the most attention is probably the war in Darfur that started in 2003, as some of the sexual crimes committed then were documented and considered war crimes and crimes against humanity.’

Yet that United Nations condemnation did not help prevent these crimes. The irony is that those responsible for the sexual crimes back then are also held responsible for the sexual violence in the current war. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are nothing but the heirs of the infamous Janjaweed militias. Of both groups, Hemedti was and is the military leader.

‘UN resolutions against sexual violence do not working in Sudan because there is a lack of political will to implement them.’

UN resolutions against sexual violence do not work in Sudan because there is a lack of political will to implement them.

But Hemedti has no patent on these war tactics, Akasha stresses. It is true that the RSF are responsible for most of the crimes now. But the army and allied forces are also guilty of sexual violence, past and present, she clarifies.

Sexual violence was also used during the popular uprising that led to the fall of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. And sexual violence was also used later, during the transition period under the control of the civil-military transitional government that was supposed to lead Sudan to a democratic system, during demonstrations against the 25 October 2021 military coup. Best known are the rapes of female protesters on 19 December 2021. ‘Sexual violence was committed to punish’, says the women’s rights activist.

‘We should also remember that the army and Hemedti were allies before the coup. Only now it suits the army’s stall to talk about the RSF’s crimes. A war tactic to discredit the opponent and keep alive the narrative that the army is “the defender of the nation” and the “protector of honour”.