Over 130 Sudanese women chose to commit mass suicide to escape the threat of rape by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, Nigerian TV channel News Central TV reported on October 30.
The TV channel notes that this devastating incident sheds light on the severe impacts of the conflict on women and children, highlighting the urgent humanitarian crisis and human rights violations occurring in the region.
Ms. Hala Al-Karib, Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, has confirmed recent reports, suggesting the real number of victims is likely even higher.
“Our bodies have become weapons of war. It’s true that women in central Sudan are ending their lives due to the unbearable pain of gang rapes and torture by armed groups. Just imagine the level of trauma they are enduring,” Ms. Al-Karib said.
The UN Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said on October 29 in a new detailed report that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, who have been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces in the country’s ongoing conflict, are responsible for committing sexual violence on a large scale in areas under their control, including gang-rapes and abducting and detaining victims in conditions that amount to sexual slavery.
Meanwhile, the BBC, citing rights groups and activists, reported on October 30 that several women have taken their lives in Sudan's central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country.
According to the BBC, the reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was accused by the UN of “atrocious crimes”, including mass killings, in the state last week.
With RSF fighters continuing to advance, one rights group reportedly told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are contemplating taking their own lives as they fear being sexually assaulted.
But the RSF has dismissed the UN report blaming a rise in sexual violence on its combatants, telling the BBC the accusations "were not based on evidence".
