Women and girls in Sudan’s Darfur region face a near-constant risk of sexual violence, the medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned.
In a press release on Thursday, the agency stated that men and boys are also at risk, though the true scale of the crisis remains difficult to quantify due to barriers preventing survivors from seeking treatment or speaking about their ordeals.
The press release detailed the experiences of some survivors who spoke with MSF teams in Darfur and across the border in Chad.
“Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere. They are attacked in their own homes, while fleeing violence, while gathering food, collecting firewood, or working in the fields. They tell us they feel trapped,” said Claire San Filippo, MSF’s emergency coordinator.
MSF reported that sexual violence has become so widespread in Darfur that many people describe it chillingly as unavoidable.
“Some people came at night to rape the women and take everything, including animals. I heard women being raped at night. The men hid in toilets or in rooms they could lock, like my husband and brothers—otherwise, they would be killed. The women didn’t hide because for us, it was just beating and rape, but the men would be killed,” a 27-year-old woman told MSF’s team in West Darfur.
MSF explained that limited humanitarian assistance forces people to take extreme risks, such as walking long distances to meet basic needs or working in dangerous areas. Those who avoid such risks are cut off from income, further reducing their access to water, food, and healthcare.
While MSF provided statistics on different categories of victims, it emphasized that the disturbing figures likely underestimate the true scale of sexual violence in South Darfur.
The situation is similar in other regions where MSF operates, such as eastern Chad, which currently hosts over 800,000 Sudanese refugees.
MSF stressed that survivors must have access to medical services immediately after an attack, as sexual violence constitutes a medical emergency.
The organization reiterated its appeal to warring parties to protect civilians, urging them to uphold their obligations under International Humanitarian Law in Darfur and eastern Chad.