Zuhour Al-Mashriqi

Tunis – In the depths of Sudan, where life has turned into hell since the outbreak of the conflict in 2023, the only sounds that can be heard are cries of pain and the tears of children, as people search desperately for any chance to survive. Fields have been destroyed, homes burned, and cities that were once full of laughter and joy have become arenas of death and injustice.

Women bear the heaviest burden, caught between forced displacement, hunger, and repeated assaults. Every time a small window opens onto what is happening in Sudan, the smell of the ashes of burned cities seeps through, along with the sound of fleeing footsteps and the faces of women carrying on their shoulders the weight of a war that spares no one.

Amid this devastation, women’s voices struggle to reach the world, trying to tell what is happening—not out of complaint, but out of fear that violence will become a permanent reality. As 25 years have passed since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, survivors’ testimonies return to remind us that protection is not a slogan, and that women’s participation in peace processes is not a luxury, but an existential necessity.

Within this volatile regional context, our agency met Sudanese survivors who carried with them stories from the darkness and scenes etched deeply in memory—testimonies that shed light on ongoing suffering and raise a single question: How high a price must women pay before peace is achieved?

The survivor (M. M.), a Sudanese woman, witnessed the worst tragedies of the conflict in her country. She was displaced with her family under the weight of killing, abuse, and hunger, describing the reality in Sudan as a “war against humanity.” She says, “Death is no longer the shocking news; survival itself is the news. Hunger, fear, rape, and death surround every corner of our lives.”

She recounts the tragic journey of displacement, during which they walked for three days on foot through thorns and rubble, without food or water. Many lost their lives by drowning at sea while attempting to escape death by gunfire. She adds that they slept in the streets alongside animals, drank from the same water sources, and ate the same food: “We were simply happy that we survived three days without food.”

She also speaks of the horrific features of the war in the cities: “We heard accents we had never heard before in Sudan—Colombian, Ethiopian, Yemeni, Syrian, and Chadian in El Fasher. Colombian soldiers occupied the city, and corpses were seen via satellite images.”

She points to the particular violence faced by women: “Killing, rape, abduction, hunger, and death besiege every corner. Life under the control of criminals can end at any moment; even our children become hostages.”

She recounts the assault on homes and property: “They entered our houses, sat in them, ate our food, and seized our gold and money… and they were ready to kill in cold blood.”

She also spoke of the tragedy of forced marriage of underage girls, affirming that “families are forced to accept, because refusal means death for everyone… the reality is far more horrific than any description.”

(M. M.) recalls a tragic scene she witnessed: “A man was carrying his elderly father in a car while trying to flee. The Rapid Support Forces intercepted the car and killed his father in front of his eyes to take the vehicle.”

She concludes her testimony with bitterness, affirming that what Sudanese people are experiencing is nothing less than a “war of existence,” and that women are the most affected in the absence of any real protection.