Sexual violence used as ‘weapon of war’ in Sudan conflict: UN report
Sexual violence has been systematically used as a “weapon of war” throughout Sudan’s conflict, with hundreds of verified cases representing only a fraction of the actual scale of abuses, according to a UN human rights report released Tuesday.
The report by the UN Human Rights Office documented 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence across 16 of Sudan’s 18 states between the start of the conflict in April 2023 and mid-April 2026, affecting at least 838 victims, including 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys.
The report said sexual violence has accompanied both the geographic spread of the conflict and displacement routes, and has been used to terrorize and traumatize civilians.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260623-sexual-violence-used-as-weapon-of-war-in-sudan-conflict-un-report/Open linkView original on lemmy.ml
Not to minimize the horror of this, and it is awful, but sexual violence is always used in war. Always has been, always will be. That's not to say we should not tell the story of the innocent victims, we absolutely should and we should condemn the perpetrators, but we should also keep in mind this is a part of war. Property is destroyed, innocent lives are lost, survivors are often maimed, and people are sexually violated. Women, men, and children. It's part why there's no such thing as a just war.