Al Jazeera Mubasher aired a report presented by journalist Hayat Al Yamani in which a 17‑year‑old Sudanese girl recounts what was done to her by fighters from the UAE‑backed Rapid Support Militia.
“They put a gun to my head and raped me.”
She describes how three armed men stormed the place where she sat with two other girls. They wore khaki uniforms, carried weapons, and identified themselves as Rapid Support. They told the girls, “We are looking for the army, and you are the army’s women.” They threatened to kill any boy they found and made it clear that none of the girls would be spared.
One of the men pressed a gun to her head. She and the other two girls were told to choose between being shot or taking off their clothes. All three were raped.
Afterward, the fighters returned the girls to their families as if they nothing happened. That same night, the girls fled. When she reached El Fasher, she was taken to a hospital. Medical tests revealed she was two months pregnant.
Through tears, she describes the pregnancy as a test from God, she says she loves the child she is carrying.
This is not an isolated story. Sudanese civil groups, regional organizations, and international human rights bodies have documented widespread patterns of sexual violence since the war began.
Sudanese initiatives have collected testimonies and supported survivors. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa has documented thousands of cases and identified repeated patterns of abuse. Human Rights Watch has reported mass rape and systematic targeting of women in militia‑held areas. United Nations bodies have raised alarms about conflict‑related sexual violence in Sudan and called for accountability.
For many Sudanese, talk of a “truce” or “political agreement” raises a blunt question. Are outsiders asking them to legitimize a militia accused of mass rape and terror? For much of society, this is not a technical issue. It is a red line.
A settlement that embeds such a force in the state is not peace. It is the institutionalization of violence.
The 17-year-old girl's testimony is one of thousands, a reminder that real lives sit behind every diplomatic word.
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