Sudan: Sexual Violence and Economic Collapse Are Devastating the Nation

This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/

BERLIN | 16 August 2025 (IDN) — In Sudan, the war is fought not only with bullets and bombs, but on the bodies of women and in the fragile machinery of the economy.

Since April 2023, a brutal conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has displaced more than 14 million people — one of the largest forced migrations in the world today. The violence in this Northeastern African nation has gutted health and education systems, pushed over half the population into food insecurity, and hollowed out the nation’s economy.

Alongside the shelling and airstrikes, another weapon has been deployed systematically: rape. New testimonies from survivors reveal a pattern of sexual violence so widespread and consistent that human rights experts say it amounts to a war strategy — one that fractures communities and leaves lasting psychological and economic scars.

The destruction is twofold: social and economic. The RSF’s campaign of terror uproots families, drives breadwinners from the workforce, and tears apart the social fabric. The collapse of industries, agriculture, and services deepens vulnerability, leaving millions without the means to heal or rebuild. Together, these forces threaten to erase Sudan’s future.

“Was That Me, Caught in That Quagmire?!”

Fifteen testimonies gathered by a Sudanese organisation supporting rape survivors, spanning January 2022 to July 2024, expose a calculated campaign of abuse. Thirteen of the cases directly implicate RSF personnel, says Mirjam van Reisen.

The victims — mostly women aged 18 to 36 — include political activists, teachers, students, and members of targeted ethnic groups, notably the Masalit. The assaults range from single incidents to gang rapes lasting days, often carried out in front of children, siblings, or parents.

“When I see it, I feel terror and ask myself, Was that me, caught in that quagmire?!” said a 27-year-old political activist from Khartoum, recalling her assault in January 2022.

The testimonies come from Khartoum’s residential neighbourhoods, El Geneina in West Darfur, East Darfur, and smaller towns such as Adila and Wad Madani. The geographic spread and uniformity of accounts suggest not random acts, but a deliberate RSF strategy in areas under its control.

A Calculated Pattern of Abuse

In May 2023, armed men in RSF uniforms forced a mother and her children in El Geneina to watch as her 23-year-old daughter was gang-raped inside their home. In another case, a 38-year-old teacher in West Darfur was assaulted in front of her elder brother, who the attackers had restrained.

Survivors describe being abducted from the street, assaulted in their homes, or attacked while fleeing violence. In some cases, their phones were confiscated to prevent them from calling for help; in others, the assaults were filmed, with the footage circulated online to humiliate the victims further.

Fear of retribution and deep social stigma mean most survivors do not report the crimes. “The silence was harder than the pain… society shows no mercy,” said a 28-year-old woman from Khartoum, assaulted in front of her young child in 2023.

Survivors spoke about being disowned by their husbands or fathers, and unmarried women and adolescent girls spoke of the fear of never being able to marry or return to their family homes because of social stigma. Other survivors spoke of not telling their families about what happened to them and leaving their communities to hide pregnancies. Several girls spoke about wishing they had been killed instead of being raped because of the heavy burden of shame they carried. Some spoke of attempting suicide.

The collapse of Sudan’s health system has left many without medical or psychological support. Of the fifteen documented cases, only a handful of survivors received any post-assault assistance.

Grave Violations Against Children as Well

“As in many contexts, survivors, not perpetrators, carry the cultural blame of sexual violence in Sudan’s patriarchal society. This can result in tremendous stigma, shame and ostracisation from society for both male and female survivors, and their families,” says UNICEF report Sudan’s Child Rape and Sexual Violence Crisis.

In 2024, the number of documented grave violations against children in Sudan was 16 per cent higher than in 2023, which was already a 473 per cent increase from 20225. Painstakingly verified by the United Nations, these figures provide only a partial picture of the true magnitude of violence inflicted against children, states the report.

Among them, sexual violence is one of the least reported grave violations against children, often because survivors and their families are unwilling or unable to come forward due to challenges accessing services and frontline workers, fear of the stigma they could face, the fear of rejection from their family or community, the fear of retribution from armed groups or the fear of confidentiality breaches.

Assaults Across Homes, Streets, and Camps

The testimonies describe attacks in three main contexts:

Home invasions: Armed men breaking into homes during raids, assaulting women in front of family members.
Public abductions : Women kidnapped from streets, assaulted in vehicles, and dumped in remote locations.
Displacement journeys: Women attacked while fleeing violence in areas with no protection or law enforcement.

In one particularly harrowing 2024 case from Al Jazirah State, a 17-year-old girl was held captive and repeatedly gang-raped by four men over four days. She pleaded for release but was told it was “punishment.” Without shelter or medical care, she wandered for two days until a shepherd brought her to a relief organisation.

Economic Freefall

While survivors endure physical and psychological trauma, Sudan’s economy is in collapse. Modelling by Sudanese economist Khalid Siddig shows the conflict could shrink the economy by as much as 42% between 2022 and 2025 — from US$56.3 billion to just US$32.4 billion.

The industrial sector has lost more than half its value. Agriculture, which sustains most livelihoods, is shrinking by over a third. Services such as health, education, transport, and trade are down 40%. Nearly 4.6 million jobs — about half of all employment — could disappear.

Industrial output: Down over 50%, especially in Khartoum.
Agrifood system: Shrinking by 33.6%, including farming, processing, trade, and food services.
Poverty: Up to 7.5 million more people could fall into poverty, adding to a pre-war rate of 61.1%. Rural poverty could spike by 32.5 percentage points; urban poverty by 11.6 points.

“Every month of fighting raises the cost of rebuilding,” Siddig says. These estimates exclude informal economy losses — a major lifeline for millions — meaning the real collapse could be even worse.

The Feedback Loop Between Violence and Poverty

The war’s human and economic tolls feed one another. Sexual violence shatters survivors’ ability to work and forces families into displacement, which erodes income and food security. Displacement, in turn, makes women more vulnerable to assault.

For example, women assaulted during displacement often lose not only their health but also their capacity to provide for their families. This drives households deeper into poverty and increases dependency ratios, placing more strain on already stretched resources.

The result is a feedback loop: violence fuels poverty, and poverty increases exposure to violence.

A Fractured Social Fabric

Human rights experts note that the RSF’s current abuses mirror its earlier actions in Darfur during the early 2000s, when women from specific ethnic groups were systematically targeted. Such crimes, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, can constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Economists warn that the war’s destruction of human capital — skilled workers, farmers, traders — will have long-term consequences. Children pulled from school now may never return, and displaced professionals may never come back.

“The war is dismantling the foundations of the country,” says Siddig. “Without those foundations, there is no economy to rebuild.”

Minimal Support for Survivors and Households

Both survivors of sexual violence and households hit by economic collapse face a common problem: the absence of functioning support systems. Sudan’s healthcare network is collapsing; its social protection mechanisms are nearly non-existent.

A few survivors have been taken in by volunteers to unofficial health centres, but these are the exception. Most are left to cope with injuries, unwanted pregnancies, and severe psychological trauma alone.

Similarly, families displaced by fighting often find no food, shelter, or income support. Even where international aid reaches them, the scale of need far exceeds resources.

What Needs to Happen Now

Experts across human rights and economics agree on several urgent priorities:

End the fighting. Without peace, neither justice nor recovery is possible.
Protect the vulnerable. Establish immediate protection measures in displacement camps and urban conflict zones, with particular safeguards for women and children.
Support livelihoods. In safe areas, sustain agriculture and restore critical services such as transport and trade.
Deliver justice. Document and prosecute sexual violence under international law, holding RSF leadership accountable.
Plan for reconstruction. Donors, development banks, and NGOs should begin laying the groundwork for post-conflict rebuilding — infrastructure, institutions, and reintegration of displaced populations.

The Cost of Inaction

“This is not random,” said one Sudanese women’s rights defender of the sexual violence. “It is systematic, it is targeted, and it is destroying lives and communities.”

The same is true of the war’s economic impact: deliberate destruction of industry, agriculture, and livelihoods is dismantling Sudan’s capacity to function as a nation.

If the conflict continues unchecked, Sudan risks becoming a state in name only — its people traumatised, its economy crippled, its future mortgaged to warlords and aid agencies.

For millions, the war is not just a contest for power or territory. It is a battle over whether Sudan will have any future at all. [IDDN-InDepthNews]

Original link: https://rjaura.substack.com/p/sudans-war-on-its-people