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U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem described the humanitarian situation in Sudan as “catastrophic and worse than imagination,” revealing the use of sexual violence and systematic rape as a “weapon of war” aimed at tearing apart Sudan’s social fabric.
Alsalem said she heard harrowing testimonies from survivors, women and girls who reported rape following abuses by the Rapid Support Forces, during a visit intended to assess the situation of women and girls.
The trip lasted no more than nine days and covered four government-controlled states: Al Jazira, Khartoum, the Red Sea and the Northern State.
She stressed that systematic sexual violence is not limited to isolated cases but functions as a tool of war targeting society as a whole.
“These violations do not only inflict brutality on women, who are the direct victims of rape,” she said, “they also break the men in their families, whom the Rapid Support Forces force to witness the assaults, leaving them powerless to stop the harm, protect their relatives, or defend their homes.”
Alsalem relayed the voices of women from El Fasher and other states who told her they feared reporting what they endured to U.N. institutions, citing the stigma they expect from their communities, a burden that deepens their suffering.
The U.N. official also highlighted what she described as “economic violence,” warning that it is no less dangerous than other forms of harm inflicted by the machinery of war. She said it includes the looting of homes, the theft of crops and gold, and the destruction of infrastructure, describing what is happening as systematic devastation rather than isolated incidents.
She also sharply criticized the weakness of international funding for Sudan’s humanitarian response plan, noting that funding stands at no more than 38% at a time when 30 million Sudanese, about half the population, urgently need assistance amid the spread of hunger, disease and malnutrition.
She added that survivors of sexual violence lack access to the necessary health care, including services to address unwanted pregnancies.
In her closing remarks, the U.N. rapporteur urged the international community to apply genuine pressure to halt the fighting immediately and to ensure that those responsible for these “atrocious crimes” are held legally accountable.
She also called for independent humanitarian access, the establishment of safe corridors for displaced people, and the meaningful inclusion of Sudanese women in any future negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict.
U.N. reports have documented that women and girls are among the hardest hit by the war in Sudan, including some 104 reported cases of sexual violence at the Zamzam camp, 75 of them involving women.
Sudan’s national investigative committee has also reported around 1,392 cases involving gang rape, forced pregnancy and forced marriage across several states, stressing that these figures represent only about 2% of the likely true scale, as many victims fear reporting such violations to support centers.
Separately, teams from the Sudan Doctors Network said they recorded 32 rape cases in a single week involving girls who fled El Fasher and arrived in Al Tawila.
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