Women and girls in Sudan’s conflict-ridden Darfur region are at a near-constant risk of sexual violence, with many attacks heinously cruel and services for survivors critically lacking, aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Wednesday.

The organisation warned that while the accurate scale of the crisis is difficult to quantify due to limited services and barriers to reporting, survivors consistently recount horrifying stories of brutal violence and rape by multiple perpetrators, including armed actors.

“Women and girls do not feel safe anywhere. They are attacked in their own homes, when fleeing violence, getting food, collecting firewood, working in the fields,” said Claire San Filippo, MSF emergency coordinator, in the statement. “These attacks are heinous and cruel… Sexual violence is not a natural or inevitable consequence of war; it can constitute a war crime.”

Survivors face significant barriers to accessing care, including a lack of services, shame, and fear of stigma or retaliation. “I cannot say anything to the community because it will be a shame for my family,” one survivor in eastern Chad told MSF.

Where MSF has implemented community-based care models in South Darfur, training local health workers to provide initial support and referrals, there has been a steep increase in women and adolescents seeking care. In Tawila, North Darfur, an MSF-supported hospital received 48 survivors of sexual violence between January and early May 2025, many arriving after recent attacks.

“Access to services for survivors of sexual violence is lacking and, like most humanitarian and healthcare services in Sudan, must urgently be scaled up,” said Ruth Kauffman, MSF emergency medical manager. “Care must be tailored from the outset to mitigate against the many overwhelming barriers survivors face.

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