On April 15, 2025, Sudan entered its third year of war. The following snapshot uses information from USCRI’s April 2025 Sudan Situation Update, as well as information as of April 28, 2025.
* The following snapshot contains descriptions of sexual violence. Read with care.
In under two years, the number of people at risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), in Sudan has more than tripled to 12.1 million people.
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted, facing growing threats of abduction, exploitation, enslavement, gang rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Warring parties, particularly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups, have been accused of using sexual violence as a weapon.
On April 25, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Chief Volker Türk detailed a dire situation in North Darfur, where recent attacks on displacement camps and surrounding communities by the RSF displaced hundreds of thousands. Türk noted, “We have heard accounts of people being abducted from Zamzam IDP camp and of women, girls, and boys being raped or gang raped there or as they tried to escape the attacks.”
Displaced women and girls in Sudan are especially at risk of experiencing SGBV. The UN Humanitarian Coordination Forum (HCF) highlighted that risks of sexual violence and exploitation are heightened for Sudanese women and girls “while in transit, in temporary shelters, or at border crossings.”
In an April 9 report, Amnesty International confirmed that the RSF “has inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls throughout Sudan’s two-year civil war to humiliate, assert control and displace communities across the country.” The agency noted that these atrocities amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
A shocking report compiled by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and gender-based violence service providers in Sudan revealed that hundreds of children were being raped and sexually assaulted by armed men in Sudan. UNICEF’s report analyzed 221 rape cases against children, recorded by providers since the start of 2024. Sixteen of the cases were children under the age of five. Four one-year-olds were the youngest survivors. These cases represent only a small fraction of actual figures.
Fear of retribution by armed groups, high levels of stigma, fear of rejection by family and community members, and challenges accessing services result in SGBV going underreported. On March 13, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council,
“In Sudan today, sexual violence is pervasive. It is used to humiliate, dominate, disperse, forcibly relocate, and terrify an entire population.”
An adult female survivor described her ordeal being held by armed men in a room with other women and girls, stating, “’After nine at night, someone opens the door, carrying a whip, selects one of the girls, and takes her to another room. I could hear the little girl crying and screaming. They were raping her.” About 66 percent of UNICEF’s recorded cases were girls, however, 33 percent were boys, who also endure stigma and challenges to report and seek help.
On April 16, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC), Ms. Pramila Patten, visited Port Sudan to oversee the Sudanese government’s renewal of a Framework of Cooperation to address conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The SRSG-SVC referenced the overwhelming systemic use of sexual violence by the RSF, as well as cases attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and underscored the need for prevention measures and to respond to the needs of survivors.
SGBV causes irreparable harm to survivors, both physically and mentally. With ongoing war, many survivors in Sudan are left without adequate medical and psychosocial support.
