Published on: 2026-06-23
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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June 23, 2026 World and Security
A new report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reveals the scale and brutality of sexual violence accompanying the conflict in Sudan. According to the authors of the report, sexual violence has become an integral part of the strategy of intimidating the civilian population and is used as a tool of war.
The report records that the spread of sexual violence follows the expansion of the geography of hostilities and the displacement of civilians. The UN warns: if these crimes are not investigated, and the victims are not heard and supported, the prospects for peace and social reconciliation in Sudan will be under threat for many years to come.
Sexual violence as a weapon of war
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk once again emphasized that such actions constitute war crimes, and when systematic in nature, crimes against humanity.
“As I warned back in January, sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, and this is a war crime,” Tyoruk said.
According to the report, there is sufficient grounds to believe that some of the crimes in the Darfur region can indeed be qualified as crimes against humanity.
Scale of violence: hundreds of known incidents, thousands – hidden
From April 2023 to mid-April 2026, the UVKPC confirmed 546 cases of sexual violence affecting 838 individuals. Among them were 539 women, 284 girls, eight men, and seven boys.
The UN emphasizes that the real figures are significantly higher: stigma and the lack of safe means of communication lead to the widespread concealment of crimes.
Most of the attacks, according to the report, were carried out by men in the Rapid Response Forces uniform, as well as allies and militias. However, responsibility also lies with the Sudanese armed forces and other groups.
Forms of violence
The document records a wide range of crimes: rapes and gang rapes, sexual slavery, forced marriages, sexual torture, as well as human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Almost a quarter of all confirmed cases are gang rapes. In one of the attacks, no fewer than ten criminals participated, who raped a minor girl.
The UN has documented at least 85 women and girls held in sexual slavery, who were also forced into domestic labor and made to work in order to earn money for the militants.
Death, pregnancy, lack of medical assistance
As a result of sexual violence, at least 13 people, including children, died. The youngest victim was only nine years old.
The absence of functioning medical institutions exacerbates the consequences: at least 59 women and girls became pregnant after being raped.
The report records numerous cases of ethnically motivated violence, especially against the Masalit people in West Darfur. Victims reported that attackers asked about tribal affiliation before the rape.
Inevitability of struggle against impunity
Volker Türk called for urgent, independent, and impartial investigations into all cases of sexual violence.
“Impunity intensifies suffering and fuels a cycle of violations,” emphasized the UN High Commissioner.
The UN demands that the parties to the conflict take concrete measures to prevent sexual violence, and that the international community ensure that issues of justice and accountability remain at the center of efforts to end the war.
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