The persistence of ethnic targeting is rooted in Darfur’s long history of conflict, as is rape, says the report.
It notes that sexual violence does not subside after front lines shift, sustained by a heavily militarised environment with entrenched gender inequalities that has fostered a sense of impunity among perpetrators.
As such rape has become part of everyday life in South Darfur, which is far from active conflict zones, says MSF.
According to the report, more than 1,300 survivors, 56% of those who sought help at MSF clinics in the state, were raped while carrying out activities such as collecting firewood or water, working in fields or travelling to farms.
“Every day, when people go to the market, there are four or five cases of rape,” says a 40-year-old woman quoted in the report.
“When we go to the farm, this happens. Men, they will cover their heads, and they will rape women… There is no way to stop the rapes. The only way is to try to stay home.”
“We were three people – and also my aunt,” says another woman in her 20s.
“And there were three soldiers. They took each of us to different places. All of us… my sister, they raped her and now she’s pregnant… I feel a deep pain,” she said.
“I feel pain… This is happening to girls, every day – every day, in our area. They are always raping girls.”
In South Darfur, 68% of victims said they were assaulted by armed men, although they also identified other perpetrators including civilians, criminal groups and intimate partners.
One in five of the survivors of sexual assault in this state was under the age of 18, 41 of whom were under the age of five.
MSF says its data represents only a fraction of the true scale of the abuse, given significant barriers to care such as ongoing insecurity and displacement, intense stigma and the absence of functioning protection services.
The medical charity says the humanitarian system has failed to respond to the needs of survivors, and calls for accountability and action.