Rape and sexual violence remain part of everyday life in areas of Sudan even when fighting in the country's civil war has moved elsewhere, according to a new report by medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Calling rape a defining feature of the conflict, it says sexual assault is overwhelmingly carried out by armed men and is often accompanied by acts of brutality and humiliation.
But MSF says rape persists as an insidious part of life for communities in the western region of Darfur that are no longer on the front line.
The report is the most comprehensive account yet on sexual violence in Sudan's nearly three-year war.
Warning: This article contains details of sexual violence that some people may find distressing.
It is based on testimonies from 3,396 victims who sought treatment in MSF-supported facilities across North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025.
The warring parties - Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - are both accused of sexual violence. But Darfur is the stronghold of the RSF and the vast majority of perpetrators identified by survivors were their fighters.
Many of the cases in the report took place in the conflict hotspot of North Darfur last year, following the RSF takeovers of the displaced persons camps of Zamzam and Abu Shouk, and of the city of el-Fasher in October, which MSF calls one of the most shocking iterations, unfolding the most unimaginable brutality.
The charity states more than 90% of victims treated were assaulted while traveling from these areas to safety in the town of Tawila.
The attacks often involved multiple rapists and included extreme violence and intimidation such as beatings or the murder of relatives.
Survivors recounted experiences of horrific violence: They took us to an open area. The first man raped me twice, the second once, the third four times and the fourth once. Apart from the rapes, they beat us with sticks and pointed guns at my head. Another girl who was 15… was raped by three men. We were raped throughout the night.
Another survivor stated that two of the women in our group were raped by RSF militia in front of us. It was four to five men doing it together. One girl was 22 years old and she died there.
The report reinforces numerous accounts of an ethnic dimension to the attacks, stating non-Arab communities such as the Zaghawa, Massalit, and Fur were systematically targeted.
Despite acknowledging individual violations by RSF members during the takeover of el-Fasher, the RSF leadership claims such incidents are being investigated and the scale of atrocities has been exaggerated.
The persistence of ethnic targeting is rooted in Darfur's long history of conflict. The report notes that sexual violence does not subside after front lines shift, sustained by a militarized environment and entrenched gender inequalities that foster impunity among perpetrators.
According to the report, more than 1,300 survivors, or 56% of those who sought help at MSF clinics in the state, were raped while carrying out everyday activities like collecting firewood or water, or working in fields.
Every day, when people go to the market, there are four or five cases of rape, one woman quoted in the report said.
When we go to the farm, this happens. Men, they will cover their heads, and they will rape women… There is no way to stop the rapes. The only way is to try to stay home.
MSF highlights that its data represents only a fraction of the abuse, given barriers to care such as insecurity, intense stigma, and lack of functioning protection services. The medical charity concludes that the humanitarian system has failed to adequately respond to the needs of survivors, calling for accountability and urgent intervention.
