Women fleeing Sudan’s Darfur region have reported horrifying accounts of sexual violence, abductions, and the disappearance of their children, as the region remains in the grips of escalating violence.
The U.N. agency for women shared these disturbing testimonies on Tuesday, shedding light on the ongoing crisis in al-Fashir, where women have witnessed atrocities including killings, systematic rape, and forced separation from their families.
The fall of al-Fashir on October 26, 2025, to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) marked a significant turning point in the two-and-a-half-year war between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
With the RSF consolidating control over the Darfur region, reports from survivors fleeing the city describe civilians being shot on the streets and subjected to drone strikes.
Anna Mutavati, the U.N. Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, delivered a poignant statement from Geneva, highlighting the pervasive sexual violence against women.
“There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war,” she said. “Women’s bodies have become battlegrounds in Sudan, and no safe spaces remain for them to seek refuge or even basic care.”
The crisis is compounded by severe food insecurity in Darfur, where around 11 million women and girls face acute hunger. In the face of famine, these women are often forced to forage for food in dangerous conditions, risking not only starvation but also sexual violence and abduction.
Mutavati described how women gather wild leaves and berries to make soup, but in doing so, they encounter further risks of sexual and gender-based violence.
Famine was officially declared in al-Fashir and the southern city of Kadugli earlier this month, while the U.N. Human Rights Chief expressed fears of continued violence, including summary executions, ethnic killings, and sexual assault, particularly targeting women.
Since the fall of al-Fashir, an estimated 82,000 people have fled the city and its surrounding areas. However, as many as 200,000 people remain trapped within the city, enduring daily violence and deprivation.
This crisis in Darfur paints a harrowing picture of the suffering faced by women in conflict zones, where sexual violence is used as a tool of war and basic human rights are stripped away from the most vulnerable members of society.
The U.N. and international human rights organizations continue to call for urgent action to address these atrocities and protect civilians caught in the crossfire of Sudan’s brutal war.
