Sudan and Sexual Slavery
Kanako Mita, Noriko Watanabe, and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
The United Nations (UN) and other leading international institutions continue to accuse the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias of committing atrocities against non-Arab populations in Darfur and South Kordofan. In Darfur, the non-Arab Masalit community—alongside other Black African ethnic groups—has been systematically targeted. In South Kordofan, the African Nuba people have endured similar persecution. Across both regions, women and girls, irrespective of whether they are Black African or Arab, have faced sexual slavery, rape, and unimaginable abuse amid the chaos of war.
Belkis Wille of Human Rights Watch says, “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.”
Wille continued, “This research highlights what we have been hearing for some time now about the magnitude of sexual violence in Sudan, with the RSF coming into homes and raping women and girls time and again.”
Numerous other ethnic communities have also suffered at the hands of the RSF during the brutal conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Darfur, which first drew global attention during the mass atrocities committed between 2003 and 2005 against Black African groups such as the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, has once again descended into a nightmare of ethnic violence. Since the outbreak of the current war, reports of massacres and systematic attacks have resurfaced, with Black African communities in Darfur and South Kordofan bearing the brunt of the violence.
The BBC reports, “Allegations of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide against the region’s non-Arab population.”
Lee Jay Walker, an analyst at the Modern Tokyo Times, states: “Slavery officially ended in the land of Mecca (modern-day Saudi Arabia) in the 1960s, following international pressure. However, much like how ISIS enslaved the Yazidis in Iraq, Arab Muslims in Sudan have also enslaved the Dinka and other African ethnic groups in more recent times. This indicates that the practice of Arab Muslim slavery has not been entirely eradicated and continues in certain parts of the Arab Muslim-dominated world — often accompanied by deep-rooted animosity toward Black African communities, as seen in the ongoing persecution in Darfur and South Kordofan.”
The humanitarian catastrophe continues to deepen. AP News reports, “Sudan plunged into civil war in April 2023 after simmering tensions between the army and its rival paramilitary RSF escalated to fighting in the capital Khartoum and spread across the country.”
Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF and a leading advocate highlighting Sudan’s crisis, said, “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action… Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war. This is an abhorrent violation of international law and could constitute a war crime. It must stop.”
Drone strikes, assaults on humanitarian aid convoys, attacks on hospitals and health facilities, the destruction of markets, and the relentless targeting of civilian areas further illustrate the scale of Sudan’s unfolding tragedy. The conflict has devastated communities, displaced millions, and pushed vast regions of the country toward humanitarian collapse.
The people of Sudan desperately need relief from this relentless cycle of bloodshed, displacement, and despair. Yet despite repeated international appeals, diplomatic initiatives, and calls for a ceasefire, peace remains agonizingly out of reach. As atrocities continue and the humanitarian crisis worsens, Sudan stands as one of the gravest and most neglected tragedies of the modern era.
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