Women in Sudan's Darfur at 'near-constant risk' of sexual violence: MSF

Sudanese refugees who fled from the war in Sudan line up during a cash assistance programme at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, on February 15, 2024. [AFP]

Sexual violence is a "near-constant risk" for women and girls in Sudan's western region of Darfur, Doctors without Borders (MSF) warned on Wednesday, calling for urgent action to protect civilians and provide support to survivors.

Since war began in April 2023 between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the reported attacks in Darfur have been "heinous and cruel, often involving multiple perpetrators," according to MSF emergency coordinator Claire San Filippo.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million and left the country's already fragile infrastructure in ruins.

The RSF has been accused since the start of the war of systematic sexual violence across the country.

"Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere," said San Filippo, after MSF teams from Darfur and neighbouring Chad gathered harrowing accounts of victims.

"They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped," she added.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, MSF said it had treated 659 survivors of violence in South Darfur, 94 percent of them women and girls.

More than half were assaulted by armed actors, and nearly a third were minors, with some victims as young as five.

In Tawila, a small town about 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the west from North Darfur's besieged capital of El-Fasher, 48 survivors of sexual violence were treated at the local hospital between January and early May.

Most arrived after fleeing an RSF attack on the Zamzam displacement camp that killed at least 200 civilians and displaced over 400,000.

In eastern Chad, which hosts over 800,000 Sudanese refugees, MSF treated 44 survivors since January 2025 -- almost half of them children.

A 17-year-old girl recounted being gang-raped by RSF fighters, saying: "I wanted to lose my memory after that."

According to Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency medical manager, "access to services for survivors of sexual violence is lacking and, like most humanitarian and healthcare services in Sudan, must urgently be scaled up".

"People -- mostly women and girls -- who suffer sexual violence urgently need medical care, including psychological support and protection services," she added.