A look into the lives of women and girls in the war-torn African country.
The first time they came to her home in Sudan, the armed men took so much from her that she when recalled the experience, she said that they didn’t leave “anything” behind.
“They broke into our house at night,” she shared in Arabic. “They stole all our money and jewelry, even clothes, and blankets.” They even took the food utensils she shared with her family. But then the next day happened. The men returned riding a military vehicle and reminded her that there were still more to lose: her two daughters, for example; one was 19 and the other was 16.
The men grabbed the teenagers and when she and her husband tried to stop them, they received a beating her body would have evidence of many months later. The men then threatened to rape the girls in front of her. It was only after she collapsed on the floor and couldn’t look at the scene when the men decided to leave. They took her daughters with her. And about four months would have to pass before she could see them again. By that time, they’ve already been raped and abused by multiple men and her youngest had already tried to kill herself twice.
This was the story of a woman who only wished to be referred to as “Mariam.” She shared it with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) while the organization was looking into the human rights situation in Sudan.
‘The Worst Humanitarian Crisis in the World’
Currently, Sudan is in the midst of a protracted civil war fought mainly by two factions: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF.) Violence between the two camps escalated on April 15, 2023 and since then, its effects have been devastating especially towards people like Mariam and her daughters.
According to the United Nations (UN,) Sudanese women and girls have been forced to bear the brunt of this crisis. They comprise more than half of the at least 12 million people displaced in and out of the country because of the fighting and they have since been subjected to numerous challenges. For instance, limited access to food, healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. And as Mariam’s story revealed, many of them have also been facing higher rates of sexual violence.
“In Sudan today, sexual violence is pervasive,” said Catherine Russell Executive Director of Unicef. According to her organization, this is now being used to “humiliate, dominate, disperse, forcibly relocate and terrify an entire population,” and there are currently an estimated 12 million women and girls—and increasingly, men and boys—at risk of such violence. Unicef said that this is an 80 per cent increase from 2024.
Anna Mutavati is the regional director of UN Women and she has been looking into the country’s state. She had this to say: “We have seen a 288 percent increase in demand for life saving support for rape and sexual violence survivors. We are beginning to see the systematic use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war.”
When she told reporters this, she didn’t mention which side of the Sudanese civil war is responsible but a UN fact-finding mission held last year did report that majority of the known cases have been perpetrated by the RSF and its allied forces.
The UN reported about unidentified women from Khartoum—the capital of Sudan partly controlled by the RSF. The women said that they were sexually assaulted in front of their screaming children and injured husbands.
Then there were the children. According to a report by Unicef, at least 221 cases of rape against children have been reported in 2024 and among them were the ones conducted by men participating in the ongoing power struggle.
The report said that of the 221 cases, 147 of children were girls. 16 of the survivors were under the age of five, including four one-year-olds. Unicef acknowledged, however, that this report, completed through data gathered by gender-based violence service providers in Sudan, might only reflect a fraction of the real number of cases last year due to various factors.
“Survivors and their families,” the group wrote, “are often unwilling or unable to come forward.” This, Unicef said, is because of challenges that come with accessing services and frontline workers. It may also have something to do with the fear of the stigma people may face as well as the fear of rejection from their family or community. There’s also the additional fear of retribution from armed forces. This is why only a number of people dare to speak about these atrocities and why they hide behind aliases when talking to representatives of various organizations. Additionally, the UN also admitted that it is difficult to report from areas controlled by the Sudanese army.
Nevertheless, the figures they’ve acquired were enough for them to say that Sudan is currently experiencing “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” a distinction chosen even as it unfolded while Israel’s multiple strikes on Gaza ended the lives of around 50,000 Palestinians.
The UN is but one of the organizations sounding alarms.
In a recent statement, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas, said that the world hasn’t paid enough attention to the atrocities in Sudan and that has resulted in the “unimaginable suffering” of civilians.
“Over the last two years, the [SAF,] [the RSF] and their allies have committed atrocity crimes, including sexual violence against women and girls, tortured and starved civilians, rounded people up and killed them, and bombed markets, displaced persons camps and hospitals,” she said. “These atrocities amount to war crimes.
She also added that Amnesty International has released a new investigation finding that the RSF committed widespread sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and sexual slavery, amounting to possible crimes against humanity.
“Despite these atrocities,” she said, “the world has largely chosen to remain passive. Alarmingly, the UN Security Council has failed to implement a comprehensive arms embargo on Sudan to halt the constant flow of weapons fueling these heinous crimes.” It was Amnesty International which also reported in 2024 that Sudan has been receiving weapons from China, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Hence, Rosas’ statement.
Aside from this, she also called out world leaders for failing to support the victims of the war. Among them was United States President Donald Trump whose drastic cuts to United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) has negatively affected the funds meant to address Sudan’s crisis.
“The people of Sudan urgently need support and solidarity,” she said. “The UN Security Council must institute an arms embargo on all of Sudan, while countries around the world must steeply increase their humanitarian assistance. Sudan’s partners must also exert real pressure on the parties to the conflict to stop targeting civilians and to bring the perpetrators of international humanitarian and human rights law violations to justice.”
Another solution is also being presented. According to the UN, women should be at the forefront of the peace process. After all, they’re no strangers to it.
Pushing for Peace
Before Sudan fell into civil war, it looked as though its governance was finally going to fall upon its people. Omar al Bashir, a military man who ended up becoming the country’s dictator, was deposed and women took part in his downfall.
“Sudanese women were at the forefront of the 2018–2019 revolution, dominating protests and mobilizing communities to push for change,” UN Women stated.
According to a report by the BBC, the proportion of women among the protesters was estimated to have been as high as 70 percent and they came from all ages and backgrounds.
Despite their central role in this, however, UN Women noted that they were “sidelined in the political processes that followed.”
That political process—which was meant to transition Sudan into civilian rule—was also interrupted. The SAF, under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, staged a military coup. This was supported by the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (a man also known as Hemedti.) This partnership didn’t last long, however. Disagreements between the two camps—including the amount of time by which the RSF would be incorporated into the military—fueled enmities between the two factions until that fateful day in April when the civil war broke out.
During Ramadan, Kartoum was rocked with explosions and heavy gunfire. The two forces began to clash, people went into panic and now, the results of this chaos is staggering people all over the world. In Kartoum State alone, more than 61,000 people have already been killed. And the women—aside from suffering heavily due to this conflict—are not given enough power to help end it.
“They were once again silenced when diplomatic efforts started in response to the current conflict,” UN Women said. For instance, the Jeddah negotiations, mediated in May 2023 to promote peace between the two camps, did not include a single woman.
Still, a number of them continue to fight in their own way.
“Sudanese women are central to shaping a peaceful future for their communities and the country.” This, at least, is according to Aisha Hamad, Director of Partners in Development Services, a women’s rights organization tied to the Peace for Sudan platform. “Members are actively involved in responding to the crisis, providing essential support to women and girls affected by the conflict, including those displaced or survivors of violence.”
According to UN Women, the Peace for Sudan platform was created in response to the civil war. It made way for 49 women-led groups across the country to collaborate and amplify their attempts to respond to the crisis. Among their goals is to gain a 50 percent representation for women in the peace process, a necessity given how much women have suffered due to this conflict. After all, this war that has killed thousands and tormented millions have left scars that are difficult to heal. An end to hostilities will no longer be enough to bring about actual peace, according to Unicef.
Mariam and her daughters are aware of this. Months after her daughters were kidnapped, Mariam found out where they were being held. They managed to escape and Mariam, after hiding them in a different house, took them away from the conflict- stricken areas.
But even after they outrun the men that harmed her daughters, they still couldn’t outrun the effects of what they’ve done..
“When [health professionals] checked the girls, they discovered that they were both pregnant,” she said. They’re also riddled with other complications. Her older one, for example, has anemia; both girls are traumatized and she is struggling to provide for them.
“Even after I left there, I still suffer to this day,” she said. “I suffer because of rent, and I struggle to provide a living for my daughters.”
But even in this state, she (and a lot of women like her and her daughters) can still face loss—a consequence of having lives that the world can still save.
