A women’s rights organisation has documented nearly 1,300 cases of sexual and gender-based violence across Sudan, with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) responsible for the overwhelming majority of attacks. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) released its findings on December 12, 2025, showing verified incidents spanning 14 states since Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023.

RSF Responsible for Majority of Sexual Violence Cases

SIHA’s report confirms that 87 percent of identified perpetrators were RSF fighters. The violations were described as “widespread, repeated, intentional, and often targeted,” rather than isolated incidents. Rape accounted for more than three-quarters of the documented cases, while 225 incidents involved children as young as four years old.

The report highlights a disturbing three-stage pattern associated with RSF territorial advances:

1. Initial home invasions and looting, accompanied by sexual assaults.
2. Attacks in public spaces as RSF consolidates control over an area.
3. Long-term detention of women, including torture, gang rape, and forced marriage.

Women and girls from non-Arab tribes, including the Masalit, Berti, Fur, and Zaghawa, were particularly targeted. In Al-Gezira state, RSF forces singled out lighter-skinned girls and women aged 14 to 30 as “trophies.”

Recent Attacks and Humanitarian Toll

Just last week, the Sudan Doctors Network reported 19 additional rape cases at al-Afad Camp in al-Dabba, where women fleeing el-Fasher were assaulted. Two survivors are pregnant and receiving medical care.

The conflict has shifted from Darfur to the central Kordofan region. RSF currently holds a commanding position, advancing on urban centres and recently capturing the Heglig oilfield near the South Sudan border on December 8. South Sudanese troops were deployed to secure the site, while drone strikes and shelling continue to threaten civilians.

Since late October, the UN documented at least 269 civilian deaths in Kordofan due to bombardment, artillery, and targeted killings, though communication blackouts suggest the real toll is higher. Across Sudan, the war has displaced 12.4 million people and forced 3.3 million to flee as refugees.

International Response

International actors are beginning to take action against parties fueling the conflict. Washington sanctioned four Colombian nationals accused of recruiting over 300 military veterans to fight for the RSF. However, the UAE, implicated in arranging deployments, was not sanctioned and has repeatedly denied supporting the paramilitary group.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk warned that Kordofan faces “another wave of mass atrocities,” underscoring the urgent need for international intervention and protection of civilians.