December 17, Nairobi — The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have raped girls scores of women and girls, including those as young as seven, and in the context of sexual slavery, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.
The atrocities were documented in South Kordofan where researchers collected evidence revealing 79 girls and women reported being raped since September 2023. HRW said the actual number is likely to be much higher. Most of the survivors were living in informal settlements for displaced people in the Nuba Mountains region.
Survivors and witnesses told HRW that the attackers were all uniformed RSF members or allied militia members. Some of the incidents took place at an RSF base.
“Survivors described being gang raped in front of their families or over prolonged periods of time, including while being held as sex slaves by RSF fighters,” said Belkis Wille, associate director in the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division at HRW. “United Nations and African Union member states should urgently act to assist survivors, protect other women and girls, and ensure justice for these heinous crimes.”
In a separate report published last week, HRW documented large-scale killings, abductions and injuries to civilians, as well as widespread looting and burning, in and around Habila and Fayu in South Kordofan.