Beyond Celebrating March 8th: A Call for Action Against Gendered Atrocities in Sudan

• FikraSD celebrates women’s resilience and impact across the world, highlighting Sudanese women’s legendary courage and resilience amid the conflict.
• The UN Fact-Finding Mission confirmed RSF-led sexual violence, including gang rape, abductions, and slavery, in Greater Khartoum, Darfur, and Gezira.
• FikraSD demands an expanded UN mandate to fully investigate RSF crimes.
• FikraSD calls for prosecuting RSF members in international courts.
• FikraSD urges the UN Security Council to enforce the Darfur arms embargo and pressure the UAE to stop arming RSF.
• We demand immediate, unhindered humanitarian aid for medical care, psychosocial support, and survivor protection.

On this International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2025, Fikra for Studies and Development (FikraSD) celebrates the unparalleled brilliance, resilience, and transformative power of women worldwide—a day that stands as a clarion call to honor their intellectual legacy and unwavering strength in shaping a just and equitable future. Today, we glorify the contributions of women across generations and geographies, while turning our gaze to the extraordinary fortitude of Sudanese women, who, since the eruption of conflict on April 15, 2023, have faced unspeakable atrocities with a legendary resilience that commands both awe and action.

The war in Sudan has thrust its women into a crucible of suffering and survival, yet their spirit remains unbroken. Since April 2023, over 7 million women and girls have been internally displaced, part of a staggering 14 million uprooted nationwide—the largest displacement crisis globally. The United Nations estimates that 6.7 million, predominantly women and girls, urgently need gender-based violence (GBV) services—a figure projected to rise to 6.9 million by year’s end—reflecting a doubling of need since the conflict began. The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, mandated by Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2, has documented systematic sexual violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including gang rapes, abductions, and sexual slavery, particularly in Greater Khartoum, Darfur, and Gezira. Verified cases represent only a fraction of the horror, obscured by underreporting amid stigma and chaos.

FikraSD unequivocally condemns the RSF for their barbaric crimes against Sudanese women—acts that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international humanitarian law (IHL). These violations, including rape and torture as weapons of war, contravene Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and customary IHL, binding all parties to this conflict. The RSF’s deliberate targeting of women to terrorize and subjugate demands not mere outrage, but accountability and justice.

We call upon the international community to act decisively under the frameworks of IHL treaties and conventions—the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)—to end impunity for these atrocities. FikraSD urges the extension and full resourcing of the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate, thorough investigations into RSF crimes, and prosecutions before international courts. The UN Security Council must enforce the Darfur arms embargo rigorously, while states -particularly the UAE- must halt arms transfers fueling this violence, per the Arms Trade Treaty and the UNSC resolution 1591. Immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access is critical to deliver medical care, psychosocial support, and protection to survivors, especially as 80% of Sudan’s healthcare system lies in ruins.

On this International Women’s Day, FikraSD salutes the Sudanese women whose resilience redefines human endurance—not as passive sufferers, but as active architects of hope demanding dignity and redress. Their struggle compels us to transform celebration into action: to dismantle the structures of violence, enforce justice, and ensure their legendary strength is met with the global solidarity it so powerfully merits.

Fikra for Studies and Development
March 08, 2025

Important Relevant Documents:
• Unbreakable: Sudanese Women’s Struggle Against Conflict-Related Sexual Violence 
• Feminist initiatives in Sudan – A Story of Resilience, Resistance, and Solidarity
• WHAT WE HAVE LOST IN THE WAR: The Economic Impact of the Sudan Conflict on Women
• SEXUAL SLAVERY IN KHOR JAHANNAM: Sexual Slavery in Khor Jahannam – ACJPS.