Sexual violence is being used as a deliberate tactic of war in Sudan, with women and girls targeted to destabilize entire communities, according to Fabrizia Falcione, UNFPA’s country representative.
Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in April 2023, has become the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Falcione described unprecedented levels of conflict-related sexual violence, primarily in Darfur and Kordofan-regions engulfed in fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
"In this conflict, sexual violence is being clearly utilised as a form of warfare itself," Falcione said. "Women are the ones who are paying the price."
Survivors face trauma, injury, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, and deep social stigma. Many flee violence only to give birth on dangerous escape routes-some disappearing without a trace.
UNFPA operates mobile health units and women-only safe spaces across displacement camps, offering psychosocial support, reproductive care, and income-generating training. Yet services remain critically limited.
Over 9.3 million people are internally displaced-most of them women and children. Though some 3 million have returned home, including 1 million to Khartoum, Falcione stressed that sustainable return requires basic health services, jobs, and community reintegration.
"Women are peacemakers," she said. "This war is not a war of the women."