By: Amna Jibreel
Introduction
Since the outbreak of the recent war, Sudan has witnessed an escalating wave of violence in all its forms. Yet the most severe and most overlooked has been gender-based violence. Amidst the collapse of state institutions and the disintegration of the social fabric, women and girls have become direct targets of physical, sexual, and psychological violence. This pattern of violence is not new to armed conflicts in Sudan; however, today it has taken on broader and more complex forms, where physical, social, and digital dimensions intersect, placing women on a multi-front battle.
In this blog, I present the case of a woman displaced from Khartoum who was subjected to digital violence during the war. After losing her home, she turned to social media platforms to call for peace, only to find herself targeted by defamation campaigns and fabricated images, forcing her to confront a new form of violence in the online sphere. Nevertheless, she was able to transform this experience into a space of resistance and support by building a network of solidarity with other women.
This blog relies on reviewing old digital content on social media, along with documented testimonies from feminist organizations operating in Sudan. Drawing from testimonies of direct interviews conducted by these organizations with women who became displaced during this war, and finally, secondary sources published in digital reports.
One case was selected as a representative example reflecting the recurring experiences of many displaced women who were exposed to digital violence during the war. This choice allows for highlighting repeated patterns of targeting and demonstrates how digital violence intersects with other forms of gender-based violence.
The analysis adopts a qualitative research methodology, based on content analysis of participants’ narratives and the extraction of recurring patterns and social implications, enabling a deeper understanding of women’s experiences in the digital space during armed conflict.
The Nature of Gender-Based Violence in Times of War
Gender-based violence is defined as any harmful act committed against the will of a woman or girl, grounded in imposed social roles or unequal power relations. Its manifestations include mass rape, sexual harassment, forced marriage, sexual slavery, and domestic violence.
In the Sudanese context, this violence is intensified by armed conflict and the collapse of formal protection institutions, leaving women and girls facing direct physical, psychological, and social violations without effective mechanisms for justice or support. The disintegration of the social fabric and the collapse of the rule of law further enable more brutal and complex practices, rendering women easy targets of systematic and repeated violence.
According to reports from humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations and local feminist organizations, hundreds of cases have been documented across Sudan, particularly in Darfur, Khartoum, Al-Jazira, and South Kordofan. The analysis of these cases reveals two main patterns:
The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war to humiliate communities and the targeting of women who lack social and legal protection. Human Rights Watch has documented widespread sexual violence in Khartoum, including gang rape and forced marriage, describing them as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International also issued a report titled “They Raped All of Us”, documenting 36 cases of gang rape and sexual slavery committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), confirming that sexual violence was used as a tool to humiliate women and displace communities.
Digital violence as an extension of real-life violence
Digital violence is defined as the use of technology and online platforms to inflict psychological or social harm on women, such as defamation, blackmail, disinformation, enticing, and stalking.
The effects of digital violence are no less severe than other forms of violence in terms of psychological, physical, and social impact. It represents an extension of real-world violence, including the filming of victims during rape to later use the material for blackmail and defamation, as documented by organizations providing services to survivors of violence.
A Survivor’s Narrative
A displaced woman from Khartoum, who found herself in a camp in Al-Gazira state after losing her home and everything she owned, shared her experience:
“When my world collapsed before my eyes, all I had left was my voice. I began writing on Facebook to call for peace, to say that we deserve a life without fear. Suddenly, fake accounts appeared using my name and fabricated images, accusing me of treason and defaming me publicly. I cried myself to exhaustion every night, feeling trapped even in displacement.
And despite all of that, I refused to be broken. I decided to stay resilient and face the lies with my real voice. I found other women who went through the same experience and hurt, with the same fear. We started connecting via WhatsApp, where, amidst the simple words and tears that turned into strength, we created a small space of safety and support. We comforted one another, lifted each other from beneath the rubble, and believed that the voice of displaced women cannot be silenced.”
Case Analysis
This individual narrative reveals recurring patterns of digital violence against women in Sudan, such as defamation, blackmail, and organized attacks on feminist voices. Although it represents a single case, it reflects patterns repeatedly observed in other women’s testimonies, making it indicative of the nature of digital violence during wartime.
Why does it represent a pattern? Because it combines recurring elements: loss of safety, targeting through fake accounts, and systematic distortion of women’s voices.
Its relationship to the war: The war created a fertile environment for the collapse of protection institutions, exposing women not only to physical violence but also to digital violence that exploits social vulnerability.
What does it reveal about the digital space? It revealed that the digital sphere has become an extension of gender-based violence while simultaneously transforming into an alternative space for resistance and solidarity, where women have been able to create small support networks through applications such as WhatsApp.
This qualitative analysis demonstrates that digital violence is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a broader system of gender-based violence in Sudan, where physical, social, and digital dimensions intersect to multiply women’s suffering while also opening a window for collective resistance.
The Silence
UN Women has confirmed that the number of people exposed to violence has increased 3 times since the war broke out, reaching over 12 million individuals, the majority being displaced women and girls.
And despite the scale of violations, many survivors do not report them. Lawyer and human rights activist Abdallah Naqa explains that fear of social stigma and the absence of independent judicial institutions drive women toward silence, reinforcing a culture of impunity and rendering violence part of the war’s “daily routine.”
He also mentioned the story of a woman fleeing the war and seeking refuge in a neighboring country, which further illustrates this pattern. She reported receiving Facebook threats that escalated to threats of murder and disfigurement with acid. Yet she chose not to report them, fearing that her rights would not be protected and that reporting could expose her to greater harm. She opted for silence and ultimately left the country entirely to protect her life.
Such testimonies reveal that silence is not merely an individual choice but a recurring pattern among women during the war in Sudan. The absence of protection and documentation mechanisms and institutions forces survivors into a bitter dilemma: confronting danger or withdrawing into silence. While the case may appear individual, it reflects repeated patterns in other women’s narratives, highlighting how silence and impunity constitute a central gap in addressing gender-based violence in Sudan.
Digital Sphere: Between Support and Exploitation
Campaigns and hashtags such as #Notoviolenceagainstwomen and #Sudanesewomenagainstwar have helped break the silence and form networks of psychological and legal support for survivors, particularly within the Sudanese diaspora. In contrast, activists have been subjected to defamation, blackmail, verbal abuse, and online sexual violence. Content analysis of digital posts reveals clear social implications: attempts to silence feminist voices and exclude them from the public sphere.
Sudanese Women Between Fear and Resistance
Despite all this, Sudanese women remain at the forefront of social and rights-based activism, from displaced women in camps to activists in exile. They demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of violence. Digital platforms have been transformed into alternative spaces for presence and resistance, where information about shelters, psychological support, and legal advice is exchanged, according to a feminist activist specializing in psychosocial support whom I met at a workshop.
Conclusion
Gender-based violence in Sudan is not a side effect of the war; it is one of its tools. While digital platforms have opened new spaces for women to document violations and amplify their voices, they have also created another front of violence.
Qualitative analysis of participants’ narratives reveals recurring patterns: imposed silence, impunity, and the transition from physical to digital online violence and vice versa. The main result of this is the dual social significance carried by the digital sphere: a platform for violence as well as a tool for resistance.
The biggest challenge remains transforming these digital platforms into tools of protection and empowerment, not a new scene for punishment and defamation. To achieve this, digital feminist initiatives must be supported, and legislation that protects women from digital violence must be developed.
Finally, justice institutions must be rebuilt to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable both in the real world and in the digital realm. in both the physical and digital realms.