Activists say women raped in war-torn Sudan are committing suicide

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

Several women took their own lives in the central Sudanese state of Gezira after being raped by paramilitary fighters during the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists say.

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

As RSF fighters continue to advance, a human rights organization told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are considering taking their own lives for fear of becoming victims of sexual assault.

However, RSF rejected a recent UN report that blamed militants for a rise in sexual violence, telling the BBC that the accusations were “not evidence-based.”

Since the conflict began in April 2023, a fierce power struggle between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million people from their homes.

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

She warned that millions of people could starve to death.

Reports of paramilitary fighters rampaging in Gezira follow the recent defection to the army of Abu Aqla Kayka, the top RSF commander in the state.

“The RSF has launched a retaliatory campaign in areas controlled by Abu Kayka. They looted, killed resisting civilians and raped women and little girls,” Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha), told the BBC.

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

Ms Karib said two people were in Al Seriha village and the third was in Ruffa town.

Siha of a woman who took her own life in the village told Siha that it happened after she was raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother. Both men were later killed.

Last week, a series of videos were shared online that appear to show dozens of bodies wrapped in blankets after the alleged RSF massacre in Al Seriha.

BBC Verify managed to match the location of this footage to the courtyard of the Al Seriha mosque.

Evidence of suicides comes from only two areas of the roughly 50 villages that have recently been attacked, Karib said, adding that the number could be higher because cell phone communications are unstable.

An activist from Gezira, who asked not to be named out of fear for her life, told the BBC that she confirmed accounts of women who took their own lives after their husbands were killed by RSF.

She saw WhatsApp messages from one woman who described how her sister took her own life after being raped by RSF militiamen, who also killed five of her brothers and several uncles, also in Al Seriha.

However, like Siha, she said that due to communication problems, it was impossible to verify social media accounts of mass suicides by women fearing rape.

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

“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is astonishing,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chairman of the U.N. panel that produced the report.

Documented victims range in age from eight to 75, many requiring treatment, but most hospitals and clinics have been destroyed in the fighting, the UN said.

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

“To establish the facts on the ground, the UN must send a research team to Sudan,” he said.

Ms Karib told the BBC that Siha had tried to maintain contact with six women who feared the RSF’s advances and were considering taking their own lives.

She said Siha was providing them with psychological support while activists tried to determine how they could move them to safer places.

She also said they tried to help a 13-year-old girl who was gang raped by RSF fighters in Gezira and was in urgent need of medical care.

The girl added that the girl was currently on her way from her home village north of Ruffa to the town of New Halfa and was bleeding profusely.

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