Sudan’s humanitarian crisis: Rampant sexual violence amid conflict

In Sudan, the ongoing conflict, which has lasted for nearly 16 months, has led to a massive humanitarian crisis. Consequently, countless women and girls have fallen victim to sexual violence and rape, reported James Elder, the spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), who is currently in Khartoum, on Tuesday.

Attempting to elucidate the scale of the issue, Elder shared harrowing accounts from medical staff. One such account came from a staff member at a facility near Khartoum, who had direct contact with hundreds of victims, including girls as young as eight years old, who had survived rape. Many of them were held captive for weeks.

Medical staff from the Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman reported the phenomenon of abandoned children whose births resulted from these brutal acts. "Countless atrocities" committed against children went unreported, often due to minimal access to war-torn areas.

At least 46 cases of rape were recorded between 30 April and 31 May of this year, with 28 of them involving children, according to a report by the campaign "Together Against Rape and Sexual Violence," issued in June. Since the beginning of the conflict, a total of 423 cases of rape have been recorded, with victims including women, men, and children.

The ongoing clashes between the official armed forces of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias since April 2023 have, unfortunately, affected nearly half of the country's population. Roughly 26 million citizens are grappling with severe food shortages, and around 11 million have been forced to leave their homes.