December 16, 2024 (NAIROBI) – Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and their allied militias have committed widespread rape and sexual slavery against women and girls in Sudan’s South Kordofan state since September 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. In a new report, HRW documented scores of cases of sexual violence, including gang rape, perpetrated by RSF fighters against women and girls, some as young as seven years old. The abuses took place in and around the town of Habila and at an RSF base, with victims also from the town of Fayu. “Survivors described being gang raped, in front of their families or over prolonged periods of time, including while being held as sex slaves by RSF fighters,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW. “These acts of sexual violence constitute war crimes and may constitute crimes against humanity.” The report, based on interviews with 70 displaced people in the Nuba Mountains region, includes testimony from seven rape survivors. One survivor reported being held with 50 other women and girls, subjected to repeated rape over three months. HRW said the attacks often occurred in the victims’ homes, sometimes after the killing or threatening of family …

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