Sudan's war, now more than 1,000 days old, has shifted from a military confrontation to what feminist and human rights groups describe as a widespread and systematic assault on women and girls.
Speaking to Radio Dabanga's women-focused Kanadaka and Miriam (كندlكlت و مىlرم) programmes, activists and researchers said sexual violence is being used deliberately to terrorise communities, amid the collapse of protection systems and near-total impunity.
Women, they stressed, are now at the centre of the conflict, in frontline areas and in displacement sites, where abuse overlaps with hunger, poverty, and insecurity.
Sexual violence as a weapon
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Dr Aisha El Karb of the Sudanese Organisation for Research and Development said survivor testimony and field research show that sexual violence is being used as a method of warfare, not as isolated misconduct.
She said attacks often target women based on ethnic identity and location, particularly in Darfur and other conflict zones, and are intended to humiliate communities and fracture social structures.
El Karb also highlighted the stigma survivors face, which prevents many from seeking medical and psychological care, while perpetrators act without fear of accountability. Despite this, she noted that Sudanese women continue to organise grassroots support networks, including emergency response rooms and community kitchens.
Trauma, health collapse, and poverty
Feminist activist Hanan Hassan said documentation remains limited, but survivor accounts point to patterns of gang rape, abduction, and sexual exploitation. She said many women suffer long-term psychological trauma, social isolation, untreated injuries, sexually transmitted infections, and unwanted pregnancies, while the collapse of the health system leaves care out of reach.
She added that the war has also destroyed women's livelihoods, pushing many into extreme poverty and heightened vulnerability to exploitation.
Calls for peace and accountability
Saadia Eissa Ismail Dahab of the Women Against Injustice initiative said activists reject the war and call for sustainable peace without conditions. She warned that sexual violence is being used to displace communities and reshape demographics, with devastating long-term social consequences. Survivors, she said, often face stigma, violence, or dangerous survival routes such as trafficking.
Amira Othman of the No to the Oppression of Women initiative said the conflict has targeted women since its earliest days, while rhetoric about "protecting honour" masks escalating abuses. She condemned the blaming of women trapped in conflict zones and stressed that accountability for violations must not be forgotten.
Exploitation and camp risks
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Human rights defender Mona Abdelmoneim Salman said women across Darfur, Khartoum, and El Gezira have faced raids, kidnappings, and coercion, including cases where women were forced to exchange sex for food as aid and protection collapsed.
In Kiryandongo refugee camp in Western Uganda, activist Rafia Ahmed Adam reported worsening malnutrition after cuts in food assistance and rising harassment of girls in schools, where protection is weak.
