Report by Doctors Without Borders Details RSF Systematic Sexual Violence in Darfur

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that 3,396 survivors sought treatment in facilities across North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025. Women and girls accounted for 97% of cases, with children also among victims, including 41 under the age of 5.

“Sexual violence is a defining feature of this conflict,” said Ruth Kauffman, adding: “This war is being fought on the backs and bodies of women and girls.”

MSF said survivor testimonies and medical data show that RSF soldiers and allied militias are responsible for widespread and systematic sexual violence.

Assaults were often carried out by multiple perpetrators and in public, sometimes in front of family members. Survivors described attacks during displacement, in camps, and in everyday settings such as markets and fields.

One survivor said: “Two took each girl, and they raped us,” describing an attack by armed men on motorbikes in South Darfur.

The fall of El Fasher on October 26, 2025 followed more than 500 days under siege. After the city was seized, MSF treated over 140 survivors fleeing to Tawila, 94% of whom were attacked by armed men.

Many survivors arrived traumatized, exhausted, and suffering from hunger. Witnesses reported repeated incidents of sexual violence along escape routes and in areas where civilians were trapped for days.

MSF said the assaults often targeted non-Arab communities as a method of intimidation, echoing patterns seen in earlier atrocities.

Following the RSF assault on Zamzam camp on April 11, 2025, which housed nearly 500,000 displaced people, survivors reported widespread sexual violence alongside killings and beatings.

In one month alone, between December 2025 and January 2026, MSF identified 732 additional survivors in camps around Tawila, where insecure conditions heightened vulnerability.

The report emphasized that violence is not confined to combat zones but extends into daily life. Survivors reported attacks on roads, in farmland, and inside displacement camps.

MSF called on the United Nations and humanitarian actors to scale up protection and health services, and urged all parties to prevent abuses and ensure accountability.