Women in war-torn Sudan are enduring severe hardships, being forced into sexual acts with soldiers to secure food for their families. Numerous women who fled Omdurman have shared harrowing stories of their experiences.
These women revealed that sexual exploitation has become a grim necessity for survival in a conflict-ravaged and resource-scarce region. “Both of my parents are too old and sick, and I never let my daughter go out to look for food. I went to the soldiers, and that was the only way to get food – they were everywhere in the factories area,” one woman told The Guardian.
The sexual assaults began shortly after the civil war erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has caused tens of thousands of deaths, with some estimates reaching 150,000, and has created the world’s worst displacement crisis, leaving over 11 million people homeless and pushing the country to the brink of famine.
“What I went through is indescribable; I would not wish it on an enemy. I only did it because I wanted to feed my children,” she added. Residents of Omdurman reported seeing women queuing outside abandoned houses where soldiers would select those they found attractive. One resident commented, “I sometimes hear screaming, but what can you do? Nothing.”
Earlier this month, Radhouane Nouicer, the Designated Expert on Sudan for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, raised concerns about the dire human rights situation in the country. “Since the start of this senseless conflict last year, the civilian population in Sudan has been exposed to unprecedented levels of violence and suffering. As always in times of war, it is civilians who are bearing the brunt.
The scale and magnitude of human rights violations and abuses committed in Sudan are appalling,” Nouicer said in a statement following a five-day visit to Port Sudan.
