Infants, young children are being raped as weapon of war in Sudan — UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that armed forces in Sudan’s ongoing civil war are systematically perpetrating sexual violence against young children, with one-year-olds among the youngest survivors of rape.

In a report released on Tuesday, UNICEF revealed the devastating scale of atrocities being committed against children in the war-torn nation.

According to CNN, the UNICEF report documents at least 221 cases of child rape recorded since the beginning of 2024, alongside an additional 77 reported cases of sexual assault against children. 

Among the survivors are four one-year-olds and 12 children under the age of five. Disturbingly, 66% of the rape survivors are girls, while 33% are boys.

However, these figures represent only a “small fraction” of the total cases, UNICEF warned. Survivors, their families, and even frontline workers often face insurmountable challenges in reporting these crimes, including limited access to services, cultural stigmas, and the pervasive fear of retribution from armed groups.

The report, which includes firsthand accounts of sexual violence against children from December 2024 and January 2025, details how children are being sexually abused during city invasions, while fleeing danger, while held captive, or even in exchange for food and essential supplies. 

The violence is not confined to one region; cases of child rape have been reported in nine states across Sudan.

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Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal civil war for nearly two years, as forces loyal to rival generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), battle for control of the country. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead and has displaced millions more since April 2023.

UNICEF’s report paints a grim picture of the atrocities being committed. “Armed men storm homes and demand at gunpoint that families surrender their girls, often while violently attacking family members or raping the girls in front of their loved ones,” the report states. 

Frontline workers have also reported a surge in violence against internally displaced people, particularly children, living in shelters or informal sites.

One survivor, a woman who asked to be called Omnia, shared her harrowing experience with UNICEF. Detained by armed men for 19 days, she described becoming suicidal after hearing young girls being raped every night. 

“After nine at night, someone opens the door, carrying a whip, selects one of the girls, and takes her to another room. I could hear the little girl crying and screaming. They were raping her… She is still just a young child. They only release these girls at dawn, and they return almost unconscious,” Omnia said.

Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, called the testimonies “shocking to the core” and urged immediate action. “Widespread sexual violence in Sudan has instilled terror in people, especially children,” she said.

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