Since April 15th 2023, Sudan has been locked in a brutal power struggle between two warring military factions. Conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has, after nearly two years, claimed an estimated 15,000 lives while displacing more than 8.2 million people. The RSF and SAF respectively are led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo. These two leaders and their factions are at war for control of Sudan and its resources.

The Sudanese civil war has gone on to trigger the biggest displacement crisis in the world. Indeed, nearly 2 million refugees have fled to unstable areas in Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, overrunning refugee camps. In the Western world some concerns have been raised that Sudanese refugees may even attempt to enter Europe. Moreover, the UN continues to plead for help as it calculates that 25 million people need humanitarian assistance as a result of this conflict. Moreover, deteriorating food security risks are quickly producing the world’s largest hunger crisis. With little end in sight, the Sudanese civil war is causing mass suffering and torment for innocent people region-wide.

Sudan’s conflict is not only deadly but has a complex background, wrought with contradictory internal and external powers and interests. Historically, during the first half of the 20th century, Sudan was a joint protectorate of Egypt and Great Britain. This arrangement, known as the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, granted Britain primary military and political power in Sudan. Britain and Egypt both formally relinquished control of Sudan, signing a treaty granting the Republic of Sudan its sovereignty in 1956. The newly independent Sudan spanned one million square miles, situated between some of the most dangerous, conflict-ridden areas in Africa. Moreover, Sudan faced a deep internal divide, between its richer north, populated by majority Arab Muslims, and poorer south, where the population was majority black, Christian, and animist.

This divide would be at the heart of two civil wars, the second of which caused the country to split into Sudan and South Sudan in 2011. Sudan’s second civil war was especially catastrophic, lasting from 1983 to 2005 and killing an estimated two million people. Dictatorship has also characterised a sizable portion of Sudan’s post-colonial period. President Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, oversaw the civil war, secession of South Sudan, and the conflict in Darfur.

The 2003 Darfur war is a significant chapter in the history of Sudan. It would be condemned as a genocide against the non-Arab populations, such as the Fur and Zaghawa peoples of western Sudan, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and US State Department. Al-Bashir was certainly oppressive, imposing a restrictive interpretation of Sharia, using private mercenaries and morality police to enforce his decrees, and persecuting Christianity, Shi’ism, and other minority religious activity. Al-Bashir’s rule lasted until 2019 when, after facing a decade of mounting protest and calls for a new system of government, Bashir was uninstalled in a coup carried out jointly by the SAF and RSF. For a brief time, a transitional government was established led by Abdalla Hamdok, but was overthrown in yet another coup in 2021, again jointly carried out by the SAF and RSF. The RSF is extremely powerful, formed from the Janjaweed militia, an Arab majority group funded by al-Bashir to suppress rebels from the South and fight the Darfur war, carrying out mass casualties. RSF served as a border force during al-Bashir’s time and has carried out mercenary activities such as in Yemen as part of the Saudi war effort against the Houthis. Today, the RSF is also responsible for war crimes in Darfur including sexual violence, mass murder, and kidnapping.

In honor of International Women’s Day, which occurred earlier this month, we turn our attention toward the conflict’s effect on women and girls. The Sudan conflict has seen some of the most gruesome abuse of women and girls in all of Africa. The war has exposed over 12 million people to “pervasive sexual violence”, used to “terrify” the entire population according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Al Jazeera reports that UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell told a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting that the number of women and girls at risk of rape and sexual assault had increased by 80 percent over the last year.

Indeed, gender-based sexual violence in Sudan is not incidental but systematic and used as a weapon of war. As reported in a statement by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, “Girls as young as seven years old have been sexually assaulted. While most sexual violence cases are attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias, we have also documented cases involving Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allies.” These are the horrifying consequences of a war between military factions that are both at odds with the general population, who wish to establish democratic, civilian rule. Women and girls have been severely impacted, left in the throes of a catastrophe, with war criminals on both sides.

The UN statement also highlights the plight of those who have survived sexual violence, explaining how survivors “not only endure trauma but are left without access to justice, medical care, and psychosocial support, deepening their suffering and erasing their voice.” Women often struggle coming forward due to this trauma, and the stigma of having been sexually assaulted ostracizes survivors from the wider community, reducing their access to support. The outcome for women has been a severe mental health crisis along with the humanitarian issues and mass displacement. The UN statement therefore emphasises their need for safe spaces and comprehensive mental health services. Women must have access to proper support to rebuild their lives and communities. In this devastating moment, aiding Sudanese women in maintaining their resilience is crucial, especially as peace talks continue to stall.

Last month, the African Union adopted the Convention on Ending Violence against Women and Girls. This is a welcome milestone, but is only one step in a larger process. The UN urges that all other countries follow in ratifying this convention.

Moving forward, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission has recommendations that are important when it pertains to the safety and security of women and girls in Sudan from this point onward:

1) Ending the use of sexual violence, including child and forced marriage, and supporting the impartial documentation, investigation, preservation of evidence, and prosecution of these crimes, from commanders to foot soldiers.

2) Enhancing women’s economic and political empowerment and ensuring women’s full participation in peace negotiations and decision-making.

3) Cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and extending its jurisdiction to cover the entire territory of Sudan as well as establishing a separate international judicial mechanism working in tandem and complementarity with the ICC.

These legal and systematic changes can, in my view, be helpful in addressing the issues of sexual violence, political marginalisation, and genocide that women currently face in Sudan. We must honour the strength and resilience of Sudanese women and girls who have undergone unspeakable horror and injustice as a result of this civil war. We must also strengthen our resolve to push for a sustainable peace and begin the path to change, which needs to place Sudanese women, their stories, and voices, at the forefront.