UN finds Rapid Support Forces and its allies committed almost 90% of rape and sexual violence in Sudan
NEW YORK CITY: A report published by the UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday documents 546 verified incidents of conflict-related sexual violence across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states since the civil war in the country began in April 2023.
It attributes about 87 percent of the cases to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its affiliates and allied Arab militias. Sudanese rights activist Hala Al-Karib said this high proportion reflected the very nature of a force that is “structured to terrorize and disintegrate communities.”
The researchers who compiled the report, titled “Three Years Too Long,” verified that at least 838 people — 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys — had fallen victim to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture or trafficking.
However, the Human Rights Office said these figures represented only “the tip of the iceberg,” given persistent underreporting of incidents driven by stigma, insecurity, collapsed health services and a nonfunctioning justice system.
