GENEVA— Sexual violence is increasingly being used as a “weapon of war” in Sudan to terrorize the civilian population, with hundreds of verified cases representing only a fraction of the actual scale of abuses, according to a UN human rights report released on Tuesday.Sudan has been hit by a devastating civil war since 2023, following a fallout between the army the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).Sexual violence is “unprecedented in terms of the scale, prevalence and brutality of its widespread use as a weapon of war”, the report by the UN Human Rights Office said.The report documented 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states between the start of the conflict in April 2023 and mid-April 2026, affecting at least 838 victims, including 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys.The UN Human Rights Office said these figures represented only “the tip of the iceberg,” given persistent underreporting of incidents driven by stigma, insecurity, collapsed health services and a nonfunctioning justice system.The report said sexual violence has accompanied both the geographic spread of the conflict and displacement routes, and has been used to terrorize and traumatize civilians.”Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. “This is a war crime and, if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, a crime against humanity.”Warning that impunity is fueling further abuses, Turk called for independent investigations and accountability for all perpetrators, including those exercising command responsibility.Most verified incidents were attributed to men in Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniforms, affiliated groups and Arab militias, though abuses were also linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces and other armed actors.The report documented rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and sexual torture. At least 85 women and girls were held in sexual slavery, while at least 59 became pregnant or gave birth following rape. It also documented the deaths of at least 13 victims — women, men and children — mostly following brutal gang rapes. The youngest victim was nine years old.The report states there are reasonable grounds to believe that acts committed in Darfur meet this threshold, particularly during RSF offensives in El-Geneina and Ardamata in 2023, and at the Zamzam displacement camp and El-Fasher in 2025.The report also described ethnically targeted sexual violence against the Masalit community in West Darfur. Attackers reportedly asked victims what tribe they belonged to before raping them.GENEVA— Sexual violence is increasingly being used as a “weapon of war” in Sudan to terrorize the civilian population, with hundreds of verified cases representing only a fraction of the actual scale of abuses, according to a UN human rights report released on Tuesday.Sudan has been hit by a devastating civil war since 2023, following a fallout between the army the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).Sexual violence is “unprecedented in terms of the scale, prevalence and brutality of its widespread use as a weapon of war”, the report by the UN Human Rights Office said.The report documented 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states between the start of the conflict in April 2023 and mid-April 2026, affecting at least 838 victims, including 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys.The UN Human Rights Office said these figures represented only “the tip of the iceberg,” given persistent underreporting of incidents driven by stigma, insecurity, collapsed health services and a nonfunctioning justice system.The report said sexual violence has accompanied both the geographic spread of the conflict and displacement routes, and has been used to terrorize and traumatize civilians.”Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. “This is a war crime and, if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, a crime against humanity.”Warning that impunity is fueling further abuses, Turk called for independent investigations and accountability for all perpetrators, including those exercising command responsibility.Most verified incidents were attributed to men in Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniforms, affiliated groups and Arab militias, though abuses were also linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces and other armed actors.The report documented rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and sexual torture. At least 85 women and girls were held in sexual slavery, while at least 59 became pregnant or gave birth following rape. It also documented the deaths of at least 13 victims — women, men and children — mostly following brutal gang rapes. The youngest victim was nine years old.The report states there are reasonable grounds to believe that acts committed in Darfur meet this threshold, particularly during RSF offensives in El-Geneina and Ardamata in 2023, and at the Zamzam displacement camp and El-Fasher in 2025.The report also described ethnically targeted sexual violence against the Masalit community in West Darfur. Attackers reportedly asked victims what tribe they belonged to before raping them.
Sexual violence used as 'weapon of war' in Sudan conflict, UN says
