SUDAN’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are responsible for systemic sexual violence in the country’s proxy war, according to a damning report by a women’s rights group.

The report released by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) on Thursday came a day before senior figures in the RSF were hit with sanctions by the British government for their alleged atrocities. 

SIHA’s report documents nearly 1,300 cases of endemic sexual and gender-based violence across war-torn Sudan, with the RSF responsible for the overwhelming majority of attacks.

The United Arab Emirates-backed RSF has been locked in bitter fighting with the Egypt and Saudi Arabia-supported Sudanese military since April 2023.

The UAE, Egypt and the Saudis — all close allies of the United States in the region — deny being involved in the conflict.

The SIHA says it has verified 1,294 incidents spanning 14 states since the start of the fighting which has sparked what many aid organisations describe as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

SIHA says the RSF was responsible for 87 per cent of cases they recorded, describing the violations as “widespread, repeated, intentional, and often targeted” rather than contained incidents.

Rape accounted for more than three-quarters of documented incidents, while 225 cases involved children as young as four years old.

The group said there was a calculated three-stage pattern accompanying RSF territorial advances. Initial home invasions and looting accompanied by rape, followed by attacks in public spaces as control solidifies, and finally the long-term detention of women subjected to torture, gang rape and forced marriage.

The report said: “Women and girls from non-Arab tribes in Darfur, including the Masalit, Berti, Fur and Zaghawa, were directly targeted” by the RSF.

In al-Gezira state, witnesses said the RSF singled out lighter-skinned girls and women as “trophies.”

Last week, the Sudan Doctors Network documented 19 additional rape cases at al-Afad Camp in al-Dabba, where women fleeing the city of el-Fasher were attacked by the RSF. 

As the war rages on, senior leaders of RSF have been sanctioned by Britain over their “heinous crimes.” 

The British sanctions apply to Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the group’s deputy leader, RSF commander in north Darfur, Gedo Hamdan Ahmed, brigadier general Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris and field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Today’s sanctions against RSF commanders strike directly at those with blood on their hands.”

Britain is also adding another £21 million to its aid package to Sudan, taking the total to £141m.