The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) strongly condemns the persistent and widespread abuse of women and girls through sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), as well as acts of torture related to Sudan’s over two-year civil conflict. This distressing violence, which encompasses rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery, has regrettably been exploited by conflicting parties in Sudan as a brutal means to humiliate, dominate, and displace communities nationwide. In this release, ACJPS presents accounts of several incidents of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls from the Utash internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in South Darfur.
On September 25, 2025, around 6:00 PM, two young female IDPs were sexually assaulted by three armed men with automatic rifles (Kalashnikovs) while they were on their way to a water source east of the Utash IDP camp in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State. The perpetrators, dressed in plain shirts and trousers, forced the victims at gunpoint to move to a nearby residence, where they were repeatedly sexually assaulted until 10:00 am the next day. The victims, aged 25 and 26, are internally displaced persons living in Utash camp. Unfortunately, the victims could not identify the perpetrators definitively, as they were dressed in plain clothing, which did not indicate any affiliation with a specific military group. The victims returned to their families at the camp, who helped them access medical support at the local clinic, including contraceptive medicines.
On October 10, 2025, at around 5:00 PM, six individuals armed with Kalashnikovs, three of them in Rapid Support Force (RSF) uniform and the other three in plain clothes, sexually assaulted three girls. Two of the girls were sisters, aged around 15 or 18 years old, while the third girl was approximately 21 years old. This incident occurred as they were returning from the Almustagbal neighborhood in Nyala, heading to the Utash camp. The survivors were forced to be taken to a nearby house, where they were subjected to mass rape. They were kept there until the following morning, after which they were taken to the camp in extremely poor health and received medical treatment. The two sister victims had been displaced from El Fashir in North Darfur to Utash camp due to ongoing fighting between the Sudanese war parties since April 15, 2023.
Call to action
We reiterate our call to the warring parties to cease employing sexual violence as a weapon of war, as such actions are profoundly unacceptable and reprehensible. The employment of sexual violence constitutes a blatant violation of fundamental human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, to which Sudan is a signatory.
We also call upon the Sudanese authorities to investigate the allegations, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable and that the rights of women and girls are protected and upheld unconditionally, in line with international laws, and provided with access to free medical, psychosocial, and legal support.
Background
Since the conflict started in Sudan between SAF and RSF on April 15, 2023, women and girls have been bearing the brunt of the suffering, facing increasing dangers such as abduction, exploitation, enslavement, gang rape, and other terrible forms of sexual violence. Sadly, the warring groups, especially the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies, have been widely accused of deliberately using sexual violence as a weapon of war. Displaced women and girls in Sudan are especially at risk of experiencing SGBV while in transit, in temporary shelters, or at border crossings. ACJPS has documented numerous incidents in which internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been subjected to sexual assault upon leaving the camp to support their families.