Sexual violence has become an almost routine danger for women and girls in Sudan’s Darfur region, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned on Friday, urging an urgent scale-up of medical, psychological and protection services for survivors.
MSF said it had documented “heinous attacks, often committed by multiple perpetrators” since fighting erupted in April 2023 between General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces. The wider conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions across Darfur.
Between January 2024 and March 2025 MSF treated 659 rape survivors at its clinics in South Darfur; more than half said their attackers were armed, and nearly one-third were children. In neighbouring eastern Chad, where many Sudanese have fled, MSF treated a further 44 survivors, half of them minors.
“Women tell us they feel unsafe everywhere – on the road, in markets and even inside their own homes,” the aid group said, adding that access to post-rape care, counselling and legal protection is “severely lacking” across the region.
MSF called on donors and humanitarian agencies to bolster services immediately, warning that without additional support many survivors will be left without treatment and at risk of further abuse