More than 200 children raped in Sudan since start of 2024, UNICEF says

The conflict in Sudan began in April 2023, between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with fighting spreading across the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

Since then, at least 20,000 people have been killed, although the actual number is believed to be much higher. The war has also forced over 14 million people to flee their homes, pushing some areas towards famine.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated in the report that rape and sexual violence are being used as a tactic of war, violating international laws meant to protect children.

Children among rape survivors

According to AP, more than 30% of the reported child rape victims were boys, and some victims were as young as four infants and 16 children under five. The cases were documented in several states, including Gedaref, Kassala, Gezeira, Khartoum, River Nile, Northern State, South Kordofan, North Darfur, and West Darfur.

Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, told AP that 73 of the 221 child rapes were directly linked to the conflict, while 71 were not, and the rest were uncategorised.

“In a culture where there is really serious social stigma, and where access to help has been severely limited, the fact that these cases were even reported shows that this is just a small part of a much bigger problem,” Ingram told AP. “It is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are undoubtedly hundreds more children who have been raped.”

Widespread fear and trauma

Many survivors are afraid to speak out, fearing retaliation from armed groups or rejection by their families, AP reported.

The SIHA Network, an organisation that documents violence against women and girls, said last month that 23% of the sexual violence cases they recorded in Sudan since the war began involved girls.

In South Kordofan, a boy was raped at gunpoint, and several children, including a six-year-old, were attacked while picking fruit.

Ingram, who visited Sudan in December, told AP that she met survivors who had “endured horrors no person should experience in a lifetime, and even after those horrors, their suffering does not stop.”

Many survivors suffer serious physical injuries and psychological trauma, she said. One girl developed seizures linked to her trauma, and others attempted suicide.

Testimonies of survivors

A young girl from Omdurman, who recorded her testimony for UNICEF, shared with AP that she was repeatedly turned away from displacement centres when staff learned she was pregnant after being raped.

Another unidentified woman, who was kidnapped by armed men, described her 19-day captivity in a room with four other women and girls. In a video testimony, she said they were forced to cook and clean for their captors and suffered severe beatings. She recalled feeling so depressed that she wanted to take her own life.

The woman described how one of the captives, a 15-year-old girl, was forced to take pills and repeatedly taken to another room where random men raped her.

“I heard her screams while she was getting raped,” the woman said, breaking down in tears and hyperventilating. “Every time she was brought back to our room, she was covered in blood.”

These horrifying testimonies highlight the widespread sexual violence being committed against children in Sudan’s conflict, AP reported.

(with inputs from AP)