Khartoum, Sudan — On 15 April 2023, the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drastically altered the face of Sudanese society. The fighting left thousands of dead, wounded, displaced people and refugees.
People went hungry, civil rights were violated in the most horrible ways, and discrimination was practiced on the basis of gender, race and tribe. Across the country, infrastructure was destroyed in cities and villages - not even hospitals and schools were spared - and the capital Khartoum became a shattered city unfit for life.
According to UN estimates, some 10.9 million people are now internally displaced within Sudan. Another 2.2 million people have fled to other countries since the conflict began. Food insecurity is rife, and the warring parties regularly attack and kill civilians.
Despite this horrific panorama, international attention to the conflict has waned and humanitarian support has been stymied - earlier this month, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire and crucial humanitarian aid.
Few have suffered more during this war than women human rights defenders (WHRDs).
Madiha Abdalla
As a longstanding WHRD and journalist, since the outbreak of the war, I was exposed to the risks of losing the right to life, as bullets and shells continued to fall on my residential area in a suburb of Khartoum, located near a military area that witnessed violent confrontations between the parties to the war since its beginning.
Initially, my family and I were displaced to a relatively safe area in central Sudan and along with fellow human rights defenders, I worked as a volunteer in shelter centres, contributing to providing services to the displaced and raising awareness of civil rights.
After the RSF invaded the area, we were displaced again, and I traveled to Uganda after the security risks increased when the war expanded. Since February 2024, I continue my journalistic and civilian work with human rights groups and journalists to stop the war and protect civilians.
WHRDs in Sudan face numerous risks as a result of this ongoing and expanded conflict. They are targeted with armed threats, liquidation, and arrest; security agencies threaten to prosecute WHRDs who work in emergency rooms that provide services and support to the displaced. These threats sometimes extend to family members, too.
Security agencies stalk and pursue WHRDs, personally targeting them and their kin. This is especially true for those who work in the legal field and monitor violations; they are regularly forced to flee and seek refuge in other regions and countries, resulting in the closure of legal offices and the loss of the right to work.
Sudanese WHRDs risk being accused of spying for one side of the war against the other, leading to armed men confiscating their phones as well as increased insecurity in using social media and exposure to the risk of being hacked.
Many WHRDs are forced to leave their homes with sick family members in harsh conditions without money or means of protection, and even though they hate to leave their homeland, they are forced to seek refuge in other countries.
Many of those forced to flee their homes due to the fighting do so on foot, with no belongings; they become displaced to other areas or live with relatives, always running the risk of violence and looting by armed men on their displacement routes.
Their freedom of movement is restricted, with threats of death and rape by armed men and the looting of phones, forcing them to remain silent and not reveal their violations out of fear. As a result, they often lose contact with relatives and other groups of WHRDs for long periods of time.
The ever-widening circle of fighting has led to many WHRDs being subjected to repeated displacement experiences, which leads to the evacuation of huge displacement complexes that include thousands of people, including these women defenders and their families.
On their way there, they are exposed to the dangers of bullets and shells and the injury of children and patients, bringing with it a constant feeling of terror, often sparked by hearing ordinary sounds.
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In addition to the risk of being looted and attacked, by being repeatedly forced to leave their homes and shelters behind, women human rights defenders ran the risk of being separated from their families and losing job opportunities.
These harsh conditions have negatively affected women human rights defenders economically, socially and psychologically, and have affected human rights work in monitoring violations and defending and protecting human rights in the midst of a deadly war.
The international community should show solidarity with the people of Sudan - in particular our women human rights defenders - and support our efforts to stop the war and build peace in Sudan.
Madiha Abdalla is a Sudanese woman human rights defender and journalist. She recently visited Ireland to speak about her experiences as part of Front Line Defenders' Dublin Platform, aimed at giving a voice to human rights defenders at risk from around the world.
IPS UN Bureau
