Translated by Martina Marino
Since April 2023, Sudan has been the scene of a civil war—a power struggle between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group—whose repercussions on civilian society have been severe and deeply damaging to human rights. These violations have not diminished over time; on the contrary, they have led to what the United Nations has described as ‘the world’s largest humanitarian crisis,’ affecting men and women differently amid widespread hunger and allegations of genocide in the western region of Darfur.
What is happening in Sudan?
Having ruled Sudan since 1989, President Omar al-Bashir saw his thirty-year ‘empire’ collapse following a coup aimed at ousting him—an event that did not usher in a state of lasting peace. The population’s goal has remained democracy, a goal difficult to achieve through paramilitary groups. After the coup, Sudan was led by a joint civilian–military government, which was later undermined by another coup in October 2021 carried out by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the current de facto president, and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (‘Hemedti’), his deputy and leader of the RSF. Tensions between the two soon emerged over the future direction of Sudan’s governance. These tensions materialized on 15 April 2023, when RSF forces were deployed across the country in a move perceived as an explicit threat, which soon turned into open conflict following a rapid escalation that allowed the RSF to seize much of Khartoum (the capital), later retaken by the army in March 2025
Allegations of genocide
According to the definition provided by the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, Article 6 defines genocide as:
“any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
- killing members of the group;
causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
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deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
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imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
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forcibly transferring children of the group to another group".
According to residents of the Darfur region, what is currently taking place amounts to genocide in all but name, given the RSF’s objective of transforming the ethnically mixed region into a territory with Arab dominance.
According to UNICEF, by March 2024 cases of sexual violence against children—some as young as one year old—had already been documented. In the same month, Human Rights Watch stated that it considered the existence of circumstances potentially constituting genocide to be plausible. These claims were subsequently rejected by the United Nations Human Rights Council, which instead classified the acts as war crimes. This distinction stems from international law, where genocide is defined by the presence of a specific proven intent (mens rea) to destroy, in whole or in part, a particular ethnic, religious, or racial group. It is precisely this intent that distinguishes genocide from war crimes and crimes against humanity—an element that is notoriously difficult to prove, yet one that should in no way diminish the gravity of the ongoing situation.”
Women's situation
According to a recent Reuters article, the hunger affecting the civilian population is becoming gendered, meaning that it impacts men and women differently. As reported by Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), households headed by women are three times more likely not to receive food supplies, and three quarters of these households report having insufficient access to food. According to the United Nations, approximately 34 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children. A further Reuters article published in November last year had already warned of the particularly tragic conditions faced by women in Sudan, who are exposed to the risk of sexual violence, including systematic abuse. According to UN Women, women who managed to flee al-Fashir, the main urban center in Darfur, reported having witnessed ‘horrors no one should ever have to endure.’ The Regional Director of UN Women for East and Southern Africa stated that sexual violence is being ‘deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war,’ and that women’s bodies have become ‘crime scenes,’ making it impossible for women to find any place that can truly be considered safe.
CRSV and justice
The case of Sudan is not an isolated one, and sexual violence is often used as a ‘weapon’ during armed conflicts of all kinds. The Rome Statute provides protection for victims of sexual violence, particularly under Articles 6, 7, and 8, including the previously mentioned Article 6 on genocide, insofar as points 1, 2, 3, and 4 can clearly be interpreted in the context of the violence and injuries suffered in situations of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). It will be the responsibility of courts, justice systems, and prosecutors to ensure that, once the conflict has ended, every woman is protected, safeguarded, and able to see her rights upheld. While it is impossible to rewind history or erase the past, it is essential to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that such atrocities are not repeated and that women are supported and guided through psychological recovery processes that allow them to reclaim a life lived with dignity.