The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have been committing mass sexual violence and perpetrating sex slavery in South Kordofan state since September 2023, according to a report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday. The findings expose a grim pattern of targeted violence, predominantly against women and girls, that HRW says amounts to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

According to the report, survivors have recounted systematic sexual assaults, with many forcibly taken as captives. The report documents numerous cases of women being abducted, raped, and held in inhumane conditions, often forced into sexual servitude. Some survivors were subjected to repeated violence over weeks and months, leaving physical and psychological scars that will likely endure for a lifetime.

HRW has previously reported the widespread sexual violence in Sudan. “The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang raped, and forced into marriage countless women and girls in residential areas in Sudan’s capital,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at HRW. 

The violence, concentrated in Sudan’s Darfur region, has reportedly escalated since the outbreak of hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF in April 2023. While both parties to the conflict have been accused of widespread abuses, HRW’s investigation specifically highlighted the RSF’s direct involvement in the mass sexual violence. HRW’s findings align with earlier warnings from the UN and other humanitarian organizations, which have flagged a surge in gender-based violence as civilians are caught in the crossfire.

International rights groups are calling for urgent intervention to address the crisis. Kenneth Roth, the former executive director at HRW, said that the scale and severity of the abuses in Sudan are shocking, quoting the OHCHR.