Sudan’s women and girls in harm’s way as conflict and forced migration take cruel toll

The risk of gender-based violence is especially high when women and girls are on the move seeking safer locations. (Reuters)
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Updated 08 August 2023
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Sudan’s women and girls in harm’s way as conflict and forced migration take cruel toll

  • UN says at least 21 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence have affected 57 people, including 10 girls
  • Trauma, social stigma and lack of accountability allow crimes to go unpunished, say experts and survivors

JUBA, South Sudan: As the conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces persists, a crisis of gender-based violence has emerged, with women and girls at risk of rape, trafficking and early marriage.

Even before the fighting erupted on April 15, more than 3 million women and girls were already vulnerable to gender-based violence. The number has now surged to 4.2 million, according to the UN, reflecting the devastating impact of the conflict on civilians.

One 37-year-old survivor, who spoke to Arab News on condition of anonymity, said she was displaced to North Darfur after her village was attacked by RSF fighters in June. She said her husband and several friends and relatives were killed.

In her harrowing account, she says she and others were rounded up by the attackers before the men were separated and subjected to brutal beatings. “I fled, having been sexually violated by one of the fighters, and left my children behind,” she told Arab News.

“As a displaced person, my life has become a constant struggle for survival. The harsh realities of being uprooted from my home, separated from loved ones and living in uncertainty weigh heavily on my shoulders. Each day I battle for food, clean water, and shelter for myself and other fellow displaced individuals.

“The fear of being sexually abused again never leaves me. It’s a constant worry, making me anxious and distrustful of strangers. I try to stay safe, but the memories keep haunting me, and it’s hard to trust anyone.”

Another woman from El-Geneina in West Darfur, who also asked not to be identified, says she witnessed the burning, killing, torture and rape of innocent civilians when fighters attacked her community in May.




Rapid Support Forces fighters ride on a militarized pickup truck in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. (AFP/File)

“As a mother of six, I cannot bear the weight of witnessing such unimaginable atrocities without seeking justice for the innocent lives lost,” she told Arab News.

“We may have lost loved ones, homes and our sense of security, but our determination to seek justice remains. I speak not just for myself but for every innocent soul who fell victim to the brutality.”

She hopes that sharing her testimony will serve as a catalyst for “justice and accountability for the war crimes committed by the perpetrators.”

A new report published by Amnesty International on Thursday details multiple cases of sexual violence against women and girls, targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and churches, and extensive looting.

The human rights monitor said that several of the violations documented in the report amount to war crimes.

“Scores of women and girls, some as young as 12, have been raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence by members of the warring sides. Nowhere is safe,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general, said in a statement.

“The RSF and SAF, as well as their affiliated armed groups, must end their targeting of civilians and guarantee safe passage for those seeking safety. Urgent steps must be taken to ensure justice and reparations for victims and survivors.”

The UN Human Rights Office in Sudan says it has received credible reports of 21 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, affecting at least 57 people, including 10 girls. In one single incident, up to 20 women were reportedly raped.

The Sudanese government’s own Combating Violence Against Women Unit has documented at least 42 alleged cases in the capital, Khartoum, and 46 in the Darfur region.

However, it is widely acknowledged that the actual number of cases is likely far higher, owing to significant underreporting caused by shame, stigma and fear of retaliation.

Compounding the issue, the lack of electricity, connectivity, and humanitarian access due to the security situation makes reporting and seeking support for survivors exceptionally difficult, if not impossible.




The risk of gender-based violence is especially high when women and girls are on the move seeking safer locations while enduring severe economic privation. (AFP)

Attacks on health facilities have further exacerbated the situation, preventing survivors from accessing emergency health care.

Health providers, social workers, counselors and community-based protection networks in Sudan have all reported a sharp increase in gender-based violence cases against the backdrop of the conflict.

Women who were refugees in Sudan even before the latest conflict have reported violence when fleeing to new areas.

Aid agencies say urgent assistance is required at reception sites for internally displaced people in Sudan’s conflict-affected regions and neighboring countries.

FASTFACTS

• Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to all forms of violence directed against a woman or a man because of their gender.

• Scores of women and girls, some as young as 12, have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, by the warring sides.

• In most cases documented by Amnesty International, survivors said the perpetrators were RSF members or from allied militias.

• Rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence committed in the context of an armed conflict are war crimes.

Before the latest conflict, Sudan had already been grappling with a longstanding issue of sexual violence that extended beyond the borders of the troubled Darfur region.

However, the fighting has exacerbated the situation, plunging survivors into an even deeper sense of hopelessness amid the prevailing lawlessness.

In a recent testimony, five women belonging to the Beja and Al-Bani Amer tribes who were attacked by RSF fighters in the eastern city of Port Sudan in 2020 continue to live in fear due to the lack of accountability.

They endured “unspeakable trauma,” according to a local journalist who spoke to them. One of the women was even forced to undergo an abortion as a consequence of the appalling attack.

The fear of societal stigma looms large, leaving survivors paralyzed with apprehension about potential repercussions from their own relatives.

The absence of justice and accountability that stretches over generations only worsens the situation for survivors, leaving them with little hope of redress.

Providing psychological support amid the challenging circumstances in Sudan sheds light on “the urgency of addressing this humanitarian crisis,” Selma Kamel Osman, a clinical psychologist from Khartoum, told Arab News.

With a lack of justice and widespread violence, “it is challenging to help survivors cope with their trauma and seek necessary medical attention,” she added.

Having served as a medical adviser since the beginning of the conflict, Osman has been helping people cope with symptoms of anxiety.

When cases of sexual assault arose, she started counseling through social media platforms, as it proved a safer way for people to discuss sensitive topics amid the prevailing stigma.

Osman has encouraged women to speak up and seek help, while also offering assistance to survivors of sexual assault.




The volatile political situation in Sudan leaves the international community with limited tools to intervene on the ground. (AFP)

Despite the difficulties, Osman has provided support to eight survivors of sexual violence who were attacked within looted houses in Khartoum.

“One case, however, happened in the streets,” she said, emphasizing that sexual violence is not specific to any tribe or race, and that it affects Sudanese women of all different ages and backgrounds.

For survivors of sexual violence, timely access to health services can be life-saving. Activists in Sudan are calling for donors to provide more medical supplies, dignity kits and post-exposure prophylaxis kits to prevent HIV transmission.

Ensuring that these items reach local clinics, community-based organizations and front-line responders is critical when survivors cannot access health facilities.

“Resources are very limited, and not all victims had access to HIV and pregnancy testing,” Osman told Arab News.

“However, ‘The Emergency Room,’ an online platform, provides medical advice and protocols to address potential sexually transmitted infections or pregnancies,” she added.

The volatile political situation in Sudan leaves the international community with limited tools to intervene on the ground as the warring parties have demanded non-intervention in their internal affairs.




A new report published by Amnesty International on Thursday details multiple cases of sexual violence against women and girls. (AFP)

However, on Aug. 1, in an urgent bid to confront the escalating crisis of sexual violence in Sudan, Pramila Patten, the UN special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, held a meeting with Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rahim Dagalo, deputy commander of the RSF.

The meeting came as part of the UN Security Council’s mandate to engage with all parties involved in armed conflict.

Patten addressed the concerning rise in sexual violence in both Khartoum and Darfur, and raised pressing issues such as the targeted attacks on medical facilities and personnel, the abduction of women and girls, and reports of slave markets in Darfur.

She said that both the SAF and RSF have been listed as parties suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or sexual violence since 2017, and called for command orders that demonstrate zero tolerance for sexual violence as part of military discipline.

Osman told Arab News: “The situation calls for broader international intervention and accountability to bring an end to the ongoing atrocities and to provide a path toward justice for the victims.

“Holding perpetrators accountable and amplifying the voices of survivors can pave the way toward a Sudan free from fear and trauma.”


Two US aid workers wounded in Gaza ‘attack’: GHF

Updated 8 sec ago
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Two US aid workers wounded in Gaza ‘attack’: GHF

JERUSALEM: The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said two American staff were wounded Saturday in an “attack” on one of its aid centers in southern Gaza.
“This morning, two American aid workers were injured in a targeted terrorist attack during food distribution activities at SDS-3 in Khan Yunis,” the organization said, adding that reports indicated it was carried out by “two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans.”


Hamas says ready to start talks ‘immediately’ on Gaza ceasefire

Updated 8 min 2 sec ago
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Hamas says ready to start talks ‘immediately’ on Gaza ceasefire

  • Announcement came after militant group held consultations with other Palestinian factions
  • Israel meanwhile said Saturday it was still mulling its response to a positive reaction from Hamas

JERUSALEM/GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the civil defense agency said Israel’s ongoing offensive killed 20 people on Saturday.

The announcement came after it held consultations with other Palestinian factions and before a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war, now in its 21st month.

“The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the terms of a draft US-backed truce proposal received from mediators, the militant group said in a statement.

Israel meanwhile said Saturday it was still mulling its response to a positive reaction from Hamas to the latest US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.

“No decision has been made yet on that issue,” a government official said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about it. Israel’s security cabinet was due to meet later on Saturday, after the end of the Jewish sabbath at sundown, Israeli media reported.

Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks, but demanded “guarantees” that Israel “will not resume its aggression” once hostages held in Gaza are freed.

Trump, when asked about Hamas’s response aboard Air Force One on Friday, said: “That’s good. They haven’t briefed me on it. We have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza.”

The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by Palestinian militants.

On Friday, Netanyahu again pledged to bring home the hostages, after coming under massive domestic pressure over their fate.

Two previous ceasefires mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have seen temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand for guarantees that any new ceasefire will be lasting.

A previous round of talks broke down in May with Hamas and Israel trading blame for its failure.

The Palestinian militant group said it had given a “positive response” to a truce proposal from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but its request for a guarantee that hostilities would not resume had been rejected by Israel.

A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the latest proposal included “a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip” — thought to number 22 — “in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.”

Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Israeli military operations killed 20 people across the war-battered territory on Saturday.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.

Bassal said five of the dead were killed in a strike on a school in Gaza City.

A second strike near another school in the city where displaced civilians had found shelter killed three people and wounded around 10, including children, he said.

Many Gazans have sought shelter in schools and other public buildings since the war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.

The civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 52 people on Friday.

The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,268 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.


Gaza civil defense says 20 killed in Israeli operations

Updated 05 July 2025
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Gaza civil defense says 20 killed in Israeli operations

  • Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip
  • War has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinians

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli military operations killed 20 people across the war-battered territory on Saturday, after nearly 21 months of war.

Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory’s population of more than two million.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said five of the dead were killed in a strike on a school in Gaza City.

A second strike near another school in the city where displaced civilians had found shelter killed three people and wounded around 10, including children, he said.

Many Gazans have sought shelter in schools and other public buildings since the war began with Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates.

The latest strikes came hours after Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.

The proposal came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s departure for talks on Monday in Washington, where US President Donald Trump has intensified calls for an end to the war.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 57,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.


Lebanon says 1 killed in Israeli strike on south

Updated 05 July 2025
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Lebanon says 1 killed in Israeli strike on south

  • An “Israeli enemy drone strike on a vehicle” in Bint Jbeil “killed one person and wounded two others”

BEIRUT: Lebanon said one person was killed on Saturday in an Israeli strike in the country’s south, the latest deadly raid despite a ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
An “Israeli enemy drone strike on a vehicle” in Bint Jbeil “killed one person and wounded two others,” Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency (NNA), noting the toll was provisional.
Earlier Saturday, the ministry reported that a separate Israeli drone strike wounded one person in Shebaa, elsewhere in the south, with the NNA saying that raid targeted a house.
Israel has kept up its bombardment of Lebanon since a November 27 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of all-out war that left the Iran-backed group severely weakened.
On Thursday, an Israeli strike on a vehicle at the southern entrance of Beirut killed one man and wounded three other people, Lebanon said, as the Israeli army said it hit a “terrorist” working for Iran.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country, but has kept them in five locations in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.
Israel has warned that it would keep striking Lebanon until Hezbollah has been disarmed.


3 mayors arrested in southern Turkey as part of crackdown on opposition

Updated 05 July 2025
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3 mayors arrested in southern Turkey as part of crackdown on opposition

  • Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids

ISTANBUL: The mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested Saturday, state-run media reported, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March.
Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested with two other suspects in a separate bribery investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Anadolu reported.
Karalar was arrested in Istanbul and Tutdere was arrested in the capital, Ankara, where he has a home. Tutdere posted on X that he was being taken to Istanbul.
Ten people, including Karalar and Tutdere, were arrested as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into allegations involving organized crime, bribery and bid-rigging.
Details of the charges against them were not immediately released by prosecutors but the operation follows the arrests of scores of officials from municipalities controlled by the CHP in recent months.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely considered the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s 22-year rule, was jailed four months ago over corruption allegations.
The former CHP mayor of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, and 137 municipal officials were detained earlier this week as part of an investigation into alleged tender-rigging and fraud. On Friday, ex-mayor Tunc Soyer and 59 others were jailed pending trial in what Soyer’s lawyer described as “a clearly unjust, unlawful and politically motivated decision.”
Also Friday, it was reported by state-run media that the CHP mayor of Manavgat, a Mediterranean resort city in Antalya province, and 34 others were detained over alleged corruption.
CHP officials have faced waves of arrests this year that many consider aimed at neutralizing Turkey’s main opposition party. The government insists prosecutors and the judiciary act independently but the arrest of Istanbul’s Imamoglu led to the largest street protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade.
Imamoglu was officially nominated as his party’s presidential candidate following his imprisonment. Turkey’s next election is due in 2028 but could come sooner.
The crackdown comes a year after the CHP made significant gains in local elections. Adiyaman, which was severely affected by the 2023 earthquake, was among several cities previously considered strongholds for Erdogan to fall to the opposition.