Women raped in war-hit Sudan are dying by suicide, activists say

Warning: This story contains details that some may find disturbing.

Several women have taken their own lives in Sudan’s central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters during the country’s brutal civil war, rights groups and activists say.

The reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were accused by the UN last week of “heinous crimes”, including mass killings, in the state.

As RSF fighters continue to advance, a rights group has told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are considering suicide because they fear being sexually assaulted.

But the RSF has dismissed a recent UN report blaming fighters for a rise in sexual violence, telling the BBC that the allegations were “not based on evidence”.

The brutal struggle for power between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and driven more than eleven million from their homes since the conflict began in April 2023.

The head of the UN World Food Program, Cindy McCain, visited the Port Sudan aid center this week and told the BBC that the country could face the world’s worst ever humanitarian crisis if a ceasefire is not reached.

She warned that millions of people could die of hunger.

Reports of paramilitary fighters on the rampage in Gezira follow the recent defections to the army of Abu Aqla Kayka, the RSF’s top commander in the state.

“The RSF began a campaign of revenge in areas under Abu Kayka’s control. They looted, killed resisting civilians and raped women and little girls,” said Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. Siha), told the BBC.

Siha, which documents gender-based violence in Sudan during the war, has confirmed three cases of female suicide in Gezira state in the past week, she said.

Ms Karib said two were in Al Seriha village and a third in Ruffa town.

The sister of a woman who committed suicide in the village told Siha that it happened after she was raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother. The two men were later murdered.

Over the past week, a series of videos showing dozens of bodies wrapped in blankets from an alleged RSF massacre in Al Seriha have been shared online.

BBC Verify was able to match the location of these images to the courtyard of a mosque in Al Seriha.

Evidence of suicides came from just two areas of the 50 or so villages recently attacked, Ms. Karib said, adding that the figure could be higher because mobile communications were patchy.

A female activist from Gezira, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared for her life, told the BBC that she had confirmed reports of women committing suicide after their husbands were killed by the RSF.

She had seen WhatsApp messages from a woman describing how her sister had committed suicide after being raped by RSF militiamen, who had also killed five of her brothers and some of her uncles in Al Seriha.

But like Siha, she said the communication problems made it impossible to verify social media accounts of reported mass suicides of women fearing rape.

On Tuesday, an 80-page UN report said at least 400 survivors of conflict-related sexual violence have been documented since the start of the conflict through July 2024, with the actual number believed to be much higher.

“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, UN chair of the panel that compiled the report.

The victims it documented ranged from eight to 75 years old – and many of them required medical treatment, but most hospitals and clinics were destroyed in the fighting, the UN said.

RSF spokesman Nizar Sayed Ahmed told the BBC: “These accusations are false and not based on evidence.

“To find out the facts on the ground, the UN must send an investigative team to Sudan,” he said.

Ms Karib told the BBC that Siha tried to keep in touch with the six women who feared the RSF’s advance and were considering suicide.

She said Siha gave them psychological support while activists tried to figure out how to move them to safer locations.

She also said they were trying to help a 13-year-old girl who had been raped by RSF fighters in Gezira and needed urgent medical care.

The girl was currently traveling from her hometown north of Ruffa to the town of New Halfa and was bleeding profusely, she said.

Additional reporting from BBC’s Anne Soy and BBC Verify’s Peter Mwai.