One-year-olds also raped during Sudan civil war, says UN

LONDON, Mar 04 (BBC): Armed men are raping and sexually assaulting children as young as one during Sudan's civil war, says the UN children's agency, Unicef.

So traumatised are the survivors that some say they have attempted to end their lives. Mass sexual violence has been widely documented as a weapon of war in the country's nearly two-year conflict.

But Unicef's report is the first detailed account about the impact of rape on young children in Sudan. A third of the victims were boys, who typically face "unique challenges" in reporting such crimes and seeking the help they need.

Unicef says that, although 221 rape cases against children have been officially reported since the start of 2024, the true number is likely to be much higher.

Sudan is a socially conservative country where huge societal stigma stops survivors and their families from speaking out about rape, as does the fear of retribution from armed groups.

The Unicef report provides an appalling window into the abuse of children in the country's civil war. Perhaps its most shocking revelation is that 16 of the victims were under the age of five years, including four infants.

Unicef does not say who is responsible, but other UN investigations have blamed the majority of rapes on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), saying RSF fighters had a pattern of using sexual violence to terrorise civilians and suppress opposition to their advances.