A new report by Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) has documented the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in Sudan’s Darfur region, revealing harrowing accounts from survivors across all ages and genders.
Between January 2024 and November 2025, at least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence sought treatment in MSF-supported facilities in North Darfur and South Darfur states. In the two-month period from December 2025 to January 2026 alone, aid workers identified an additional 732 survivors in displacement camps around Tawila.
Women accounted for 97% of the reported cases, but the violence did not spare other groups. MSF spokespersons emphasized that the assaults cut across all demographics. “The stories we collected cut across all ages and gender. It did not segregate. Whether these are children or these are men, women or young boys, it did not segregate. All of them have been victimized or have been traumatized,” one MSF spokesperson said.
In South Darfur, one in five survivors was under 18, including 41 children under the age of five. Many attacks occurred far from active fighting zones. Survivors in South Darfur reported being assaulted during routine daily activities such as farming or collecting firewood, often attributing the attacks to armed actors and militias.
The report also highlighted severe gaps in medical access. Costilla hospital remains the only functioning facility providing specialized care for sexual violence survivors in the region. Displacement camps are widely dispersed, forcing many survivors to travel for an entire day or walk for at least two hours to reach help.
MSF warned that the documented figures represent only a fraction of the true scale. “These numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. They represent the survivors who are able to get away and access emergency services. Countless others remain trapped and unheard as the conflict continues,” an MSF spokesperson stated.
Survivors described attacks both during journeys to safety and within displacement camps. The organization noted that wanted pregnancies resulting from the assaults were also reported in some cases.
Activists and aid workers have called for an immediate end to the use of sexual violence in the conflict. “Sexual violence is being used as a tool to terrorize not only the woman but whole communities. This war is being fought on women’s bodies. This has to stop and this can stop,” one activist declared, while urging greater humanitarian access to the region and a significant scaling up of health and protection services.
The MSF report, released from Nairobi, Kenya, underscores the urgent need for improved response mechanisms amid Sudan’s ongoing conflict, which has displaced millions and left many survivors without adequate support.