A new report released by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), titled "There is something I want to tell you...": Surviving the sexual violence crisis in Darfur, reveals the pervasive and systematic nature of sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur, Sudan. The report compiles comprehensive documented accounts, victim and survivor testimonies, and medical data from MSF programs, highlighting clear patterns of widespread abuse that extend beyond active conflict frontlines.

Between January 2024 and November 2025, a staggering 3,396 victims and survivors of sexual violence sought treatment in MSF-supported facilities across North and South Darfur. MSF warns that this figure represents only a fraction of the actual scale of the crisis, as many victims face significant barriers, including insecurity and stigma, preventing them from safely accessing care. Disturbingly, women and girls constituted 97% of all victims and survivors treated in MSF programs, underscoring their extreme vulnerability in the ongoing conflict.

Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency health manager, emphasized that sexual violence is a defining characteristic of this conflict, permeating communities far and wide. She stated, "This war is being fought on the backs and bodies of women and girls." Factors such as widespread displacement, the collapse of community support systems, critical lack of access to healthcare, and deeply entrenched gender inequalities contribute to the continuation of these atrocities across Sudan.

Testimonies and medical data unequivocally point to Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soldiers and allied militias as the primary perpetrators of this widespread and systematic sexual violence. Following the RSF's capture of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on October 26, 2025, MSF treated over 140 victims and survivors in Tawila the following month. A striking 94% of these individuals reported attacks by armed men, often occurring along their escape routes. These assaults were widespread, frequently carried out by multiple perpetrators in front of family members, and specifically targeted non-Arab communities as a deliberate tactic of humiliation and terror, echoing previous RSF atrocities.

The crisis deepened between December 2025 and January 2026, when MSF identified an additional 732 victims and survivors in displacement camps surrounding Tawila. Women in these camps reported attacks both during their hazardous journeys and within the seemingly 'safe' confines of the camps. Overcrowded shelters, a dire lack of basic security, and unsafe conditions—including distant water points, insecure bathing areas, and limited latrines—further exacerbate their vulnerability to violence.

The report details how sexual violence pervades everyday life, occurring not only during active fighting but also in routine settings such as roads used for fleeing, fields where families cultivate food, and bustling markets. In South Darfur, hundreds of kilometers from active ground fighting, 34% of victims were assaulted while farming or traveling to farmland, and 22% while collecting essential resources like firewood, water, or food. Children are also deeply affected, with one in five victims in South Darfur being under 18 years old, including 41 children younger than five.

MSF data also confirms systematic abuse patterns, with armed men responsible for over 95% of assaults in North Darfur, and nearly 60% of cases in South Darfur involving multiple perpetrators. A harrowing survivor account described being taken to an open area where she was raped multiple times by different men, beaten with sticks, and threatened with guns, illustrating the extreme brutality faced by victims. For many women in South Darfur, the threat of violence has become an integral part of their daily existence, with reports of rape occurring regularly when visiting markets or farms.

Beyond the immediate trauma, victims and survivors face immense challenges in accessing care, grappling with insecurity, profound societal stigma, and severely limited protection services. MSF highlights that sexual violence is being systematically employed as a weapon of war and a tool for controlling civilian populations, in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Community leaders, midwives, activists, and survivors in MSF-organized focus groups have urgently called for an immediate cessation of sexual violence across Sudan, demanding protection, access to comprehensive care, dignity, justice, and accountability.

In response, MSF issues an urgent call to all parties involved in the conflict, including the RSF and their supporters, to immediately cease and actively prevent sexual violence, while holding perpetrators accountable for their heinous crimes. Additionally, MSF implores the United Nations, international donors, and humanitarian organizations to significantly scale up vital health and protection services throughout Darfur and across all of Sudan to address this critical humanitarian crisis.