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Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

This report was developed under the project titled “Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan and Somalia.” Implementation was led by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, generously funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported

the

Deutsche

Gesellschaft

für

Internationale

Zusammenarbeit

(GIZ).

Report Compilation: Bodmando Consulting Group Design by: Marce Digital Cover Artwork by: Hussain Saleem Published August 2026

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of BMZ or GIZ. Further, neither BMZ or GIZ assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained herein. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented including copying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa P.O. Box 2793 Kampala – Uganda www.sihanet.org

©SIHA Network 2026

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was compiled by Bodmando Consulting Group and presents findings from an analysis of 301 submissions generated through the SIHA Network Early Warning and Early Response System (EWERS) in Gedaref City, Sudan, between September 2025 and April 2026. The analysis triangulates quantitative evidence from the early warning database with qualitative insights from 8 key informant interviews conducted with Community Resilience Facilitators (CRFs) recruited under this project. Sincere gratitude goes to the SIHA Sudan Team as well as the vibrant CRFs that supported data collection for this EWERS and this report. This is in addition to the SIHA Regional Team including Hala Al-Karib, the Regional Director; Faizat Badmus Busari, the Regional Programmes Director; Lukas Schäfer, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Officer, and Ramatoulie Jallow, the Regional Research and Advocacy Officer for their contributions and guidance throughout the process. The report should be cited as follows: The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, “Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan: Report on SIHa Network Early Warning and Early Response System in Gedaref City,” 2026.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

CONTENTS Acknowledgements--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 ACRONYMS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 METHODOLOGY AND DATA OVERVIEW-------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Data Source----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Submission Composition------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 Geographic Coverage----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Incident Type Distribution----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Survivor Age---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Analytical Approach------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 EMERGING PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN SGBV------------------------------------------------------ 15 Age as the Dominant Predictor of Sexual Violence Risk---------------------------------------- 15 Displacement as an Elevating Risk Factor--------------------------------------------------------- 15 Location Type: Public Spaces as High-Risk Hotspots-------------------------------------------- 16 Report Mode as an Indicator of Disclosure Barriers---------------------------------------------- 17 Chronicity, Recurrence, and Normalization-------------------------------------------------------- 17 Emerging and New Forms of Violence------------------------------------------------------------- 18 COMMUNITY-LEVEL IMPACTS--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 RECOMMENDATIONS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

List of Figures Figure 1: Submission type distribution (n=301)----------------------------------------------------- 11 Figure 2: Primary incident type distribution------------------------------------------------------- 13

List of tables Table 1: Location of individuals------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Table 1: Age group of individuals----------------------------------------------------------------------- 14

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

ACRONYMS Acronym

Full Form

CRSV

Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

CRF

Community Resilience Facilitators

GIZ

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Development Agency)

KII

Key Informant Interview

OCHA

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

RSF

Rapid Support Forces

SAF

Sudanese Armed Forces

SGBV

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

SIHA

Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa

ToR

Terms of Reference

United Nations

UNHCR

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

WHO

World Health Organization

EWER

Early Warning and Early Response System

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents findings from an analysis of 301 submissions generated through the SIHA Network Early Warning and Early Response System (EWERS) in Al-Gedaref City, within Gedaref State, in Eastern Sudan, bordering Sennar State, Al-Gezira, Kassala State and the lower Amhara region of Ethiopia. One of the richest agricultural states in current Sudan, with fertile land and cash crops of cereals and sesame, Al -Gedaref hosts a large community of farmworkers from Darfur and seasonal workers from the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The state also has a significant number of Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, in addition to indigenous pastoral communities of camel headers. Following Sudan’s 2023 war, Gedaref State turned into an entry point for many internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled areas, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and their families. Many IDPs from Darfur have also followed old seasonal migration routes, they used when working as farmworkers. Some migrated to Gedaref to join other family members and tribes. The conclusion is a congested state of diverse communities, including victims of CRSV and an increased prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the multiple communities residing in the State. Between September 2025 and April 2026 SIHA initiated interventions in the State, building robust support systems and services to assist survivors and mitigate the severe impacts of sexual violence, including unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and psychological trauma. Significant elements of our prevention and response strategy have been to build an early warning, response and prevention systems for a context with exacerbating SGBV. The analysis triangulates quantitative evidence from the early warning database with qualitative insights from 8 key informant interviews conducted with Community Resilience Facilitators (CRF). Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify key predictors of violence, while qualitative findings explain the mechanisms driving observed patterns. The findings demonstrate that SGBV in Gedaref City is becoming increasingly entrenched within the context of conflict and displacement. While the system successfully captures both early warning alerts and documented incidents, almost half of all submissions represent actual incidents, indicating that risks frequently materialise. The relatively large number of incidents classified as “other” reflects reports of violence such as psychological, emotional, and economic abuse that were documented in the accompanying narrative notes. This data was recorded under a general “Other” category rather than as distinct incident types.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

The analysis identifies age as the strongest predictor of sexual violence. Children under 10 years old were 11 times more likely to experience sexual violence than older survivors, with 92.9% of reported incidents involving sexual violence. Qualitative evidence reinforced these findings, identifying child marriage as an important early warning indicator that frequently precedes domestic violence, early pregnancy, trauma, and school dropout. Displacement also significantly increased vulnerability, with internally displaced persons experiencing substantially higher levels of sexual violence than non-displaced populations. Camps, roads, and transit locations emerged as high-risk environments, driven by overcrowding, insecurity, economic dependency, and weak protection systems. The analysis also found important structural barriers to disclosure. Sexual violence was considerably more likely to be reported through third parties than by survivors themselves, particularly among children, reflecting persistent stigma, fear of retaliation, and harmful social norms. Furthermore, 87% of incidents occurred in communities where similar violence had happened previously, indicating that violence has become recurrent and increasingly normalised, as has been observed by CRFs. Qualitative findings also highlighted evolving patterns of violence, including digital abuse, sexual exploitation linked to humanitarian assistance, killings of women, and recruitment by armed actors, demonstrating the dynamic nature of protection risks being documented through the EWERS. Nearly 89% of survivors required psychosocial support, highlighting the profound psychological and social consequences of SGBV for survivors, families, communities, and frontline responders. The findings underscore the need to strengthen child-focused prevention, protection within displacement settings, confidential reporting mechanisms, psychosocial services, survivor referral pathways, community-based prevention, and early warning systems capable of detecting evolving forms of SGBV before they escalate into widespread protection crises.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Since the outbreak of armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, Sudan has experienced one of the most severe protection crises globally (AlKarib 2026). Over 1,000 days into the war, all internationally recognised red lines including siege warfare, forced displacement, man-made famine, genocide, and mass rape have been systematically violated (AlKarib 2026). Current estimates indicate approximately 150,000 – 400,000 conflict-related deaths, though this figure is widely considered an undercount due to access constraints and the collapse of civil documentation systems (OCHA 2025). More than 15 million people are currently displaced, with many seeking refuge in neighboring countries such as Chad, Uganda, Egypt, Libya and South Sudan among others.(UNHCR 2026; AlKarib 2026). The conflict is characterised by systematic and intentional sexual and gender-based violence, used as a deliberate military strategy aimed at terrorizing, suppressing and displacing communities, particularly women and girls (SIHA Network 2025). Between 2023 and 2025, SIHA Network documented 1,294 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls. Perpetrator data attributes 87% of cases to RSF soldiers, with rape accounting for 77 % of documented cases and survivors ranging from age 4 to 60 years old (SIHA Network 2025). Documented patterns include three distinct waves of violence following RSF advances: home invasions with rape during takeover; public gang rape after control is established; and prolonged captivity involving torture, sexual slavery, and forced marriage (SIHA Network 2025). The SIHA Network and the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan have confirmed that women and girls from non-Arab communities, including the Fur, Masalit, Berti, Zaghawa, and Tunjur, have been deliberately targeted on the basis of ethnicity (Sudan FFM 2026; SIHA Network 2025). This pattern has been characterised as part of a broader genocidal strategy, particularly in Darfur, where the October 2025 capture of El Fasher by the RSF took place, following a prolonged siege. This capture was accompanied by widespread atrocities, including ethnically targeted attacks against civilians, conflict-related sexual violence, mass killings, forced displacement, and the deliberate deprivation of humanitarian assistance. The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluded that these events bore the hallmarks of genocide and highlighted the heightened risks faced by women and girls from targeted ethnic communities. More recent findings further indicate that similar patterns of violence are emerging beyond Darfur. The Fact-Finding Mission has documented escalating attacks against civilians in and around El Obeid, including killings, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, warning of an increasing risk of mass atrocity crimes if the conflict continues to expand into the Kordofan region. These develop-

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

ments underscore the geographic spread of conflict-related violence and reinforce concerns that patterns of ethnically targeted and gender-based violence may intensify as frontlines continue to shift., While the RSF is responsible for the majority of documented CRSV cases, SIHA Network has also systematically documented violations by SAF (SIHA Network 2025, 21). Between August 2024 and December 2025, over 840 women were detained by SAF military intelligence and local police in areas including Wad Madani, Khartoum, Gedaref, Port Sudan, Dilling, Kadugli, and El Obeid (SIHA Network 2025, 21). In direct response to this operating environment, SIHA Network under the Safer Communities Project has developed a localised, women-led EWERS in Gedaref City (SIHA Network 2025, 7). The system monitors SGBV using locally defined indicators and ethical documentation standards. Between September 2025 and April 2026, the system received approximately 301 submissions, providing emerging evidence on community-level patterns of violence and informing targeted community engagement and response. This report presents evidence from SIHA Network’s EWERS in Gedaref City to document emerging patterns and trends in conflict-related sexual violence. It examines early warning indicators, the evolving nature of protection risks, and the impacts of violence on affected communities, while generating evidence to inform humanitarian policy, programming, advocacy, and community-led prevention and response initiatives.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

METHODOLOGY AND DATA OVERVIEW Data Source The analysis draws on data from SIHA Network’s EWER in Gedaref City, comprising an Excel database of 301 submissions collected between September 2025 and April 2026 and a cleaned Stata dataset containing 301 observations and 46 variables derived from the database. To contextualise and triangulate the quantitative findings, the analysis also incorporates findings from 8 key informant interviews conducted with members of SIHA’s CRF network in Gedaref City.

Submission Composition Of the 301 submissions analysed, 142 (47.2%) were classified as early warning reports, 137 (45.5%) as incident reports, and 22 (7.3%) as submissions containing both an early warning alert and an incident report. The relatively balanced distribution between early warning and incident reports indicates that the system captures both prospective risk signals and documented incidents of SGBV, while the smaller proportion of combined submissions demonstrates instances where identified risks had already materialised into reportable incidents.

Figure 1: Submission type distribution (n=301)

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

Geographic Coverage A total of (99.3%) were recorded in Gedaref State. Within the state, reporting was heavily concentrated in Al Gedaref District, which accounted for 70.1% of all submissions (211 of 301), indicating that the findings primarily reflect protection dynamics within and around Al Gadaref District rather than an even distribution across all 9 localities. Further disaggregation by community shows that reports were concentrated in a small number of neighbourhoods, particularly Altadamun (22 reports), Hajj Al-Sayed (20), Abaker Jibril (14), and Gedaref Municipality (11), with additional reports from communities including, El Geneina neighbourhood, Althawra, and Rowena. This pattern suggests the presence of localized reporting hotspots and underscores the importance of geographically targeted early warning, prevention, and response interventions within l Gedaref District.

Table 1: Location of individuals Locality (admin level 2)

% of total

Al Gedaref District

211

70.1%

Al Faw District

11.6%

West Galabat District

7.3%

Qala al-Nahl District

3.3%

East Galabat District

2.7%

Al-Quresha District

2.3%

Al Fushqa District

0.7%

Butana District

0.7%

Al Rahd District

0.3%

Incident Type Distribution Of the 301 submissions, 215 contained a classified primary incident, while 86 were early warning reports without a specific incident. Child marriage (23.7%) was the most frequently reported form of violence, followed by other specified violence (18.6%), FGM (16.3%), and physical assault (14.9%). Overall, 40.9% (88/215) of classified incidents were sexual violence related. Review of the free-text descriptions recorded under the “other” category indicates that these reports

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

primarily relate to emotional and psychological abuse, which accounted for 12 of the 37 specified entries, alongside cases of economic abuse, verbal abuse, threats, neglect, coercive control, and other forms of non-physical violence. These findings suggest that the current incident classification could be strengthened by introducing dedicated categories for these forms of abuse, rather than grouping them under a general residual category.

Figure 2: Primary incident type distribution

Survivor Age Age information was available for 216 of the 301 submissions (71.8%). Children and adolescents under 18 years old accounted for 122 (56.5%) of all age-coded submissions, indicating that minors constituted the majority of individuals identified through the Early Warning and Response System. Among age-coded submissions, the largest proportion was recorded among young adults aged 18–24 years old (22.2%), followed closely by adolescents aged 15–17 years old (21.8%) and children aged 10–14 years old (21.3%). Children under 10 years old represented 13.4% of age-coded submissions, while individuals aged 25 years old and above accounted for 21.3%. Although the highest number of reported cases occurred among adolescents and young adults, the proportion of incidents involving sexual violence was highest among children under 10 years old (92.9%), followed by those aged 10–14 years (45.7%) and 18–24 years (39.6%). The proportion declined with increasing age, suggesting that younger children face a disproportionately high risk of sexual violence and require targeted prevention, protection, and survivor support interventions.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

Table 1: Age group of individuals Age group

% of age-coded (n=216)

SV rate within group

Under 10

13.4%

92.9%

10–14

21.3%

45.7%

15–17

21.8%

31.9%

18–24

22.2%

39.6%

25–34

13.9%

16.7%

35–45

6.9%

13.3%

45+

0.5%

0.0%

Analytical Approach The analysis combined descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics summarised key variables and data completeness, while Pearson’s chi-square tests assessed bivariate associations between outcomes and explanatory variables. Multivariate logistic regression identified independent predictors of key outcomes, with OLS and heteroskedastic regression used as robustness checks. Multicollinearity was assessed using Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) diagnostics.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

EMERGING PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN SGBV This section presents the findings from triangulating quantitative data from 301 submissions with qualitative insights from 8 key informant interviews with community resilience facilitators. The analysis identifies emerging patterns in how SGBV is manifesting, the demographic and situational factors that predict risk, and the documented impacts on survivors and communities.

Age as the Dominant Predictor of Sexual Violence Risk The multivariate logistic regression identified age as the strongest predictor of sexual violence risk in the dataset. Compared with the reference age group, children under 10 years old were significantly more likely to experience sexual violence (OR = 11.11, p = 0.004). This association remained statistically significant after controlling for displacement status, location, perpetrator familiarity, and reporting mode. The overall model demonstrated good explanatory power, with approximately one-third of the variation in whether an incident involved sexual violence explained by the predictors included in the model. The bivariate chi-square test confirms a highly significant association between age group and sexual violence classification. Survivors under 10 years old have a 92.9% sexual violence rate, compared with 45.7% for 10–14 year olds, 31.9% for 15–17 year olds, and just 13.3% for 35–45 year olds. CRFs consistently identified young girls as the most vulnerable group. The qualitative data reveals that the mechanisms of risk differ by age group. Very young children are primarily at risk from family members or trusted adults, while adolescent girls are vulnerable to early marriage, exploitation, and harassment. One respondent described child marriage as an early warning indicator, noting that within months of early marriage, girls often require intervention due to violence, pregnancy, divorce, or trauma: Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “I documented more than seven cases of girls aged 13 to 15 being married. For me, this is an early warning sign because I expect that within a few months these girls may need intervention because of violence, pregnancy, divorce, or trauma.”

Displacement as an Elevating Risk Factor The bivariate chi-square analysis showed a statistically significant association between displacement status and sexual violence. Sexual violence was identified in 53.2% of incidents

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

involving displaced survivors, compared with 36.1% among non-displaced survivors; a difference of 17 percentage points. Multivariate analysis confirmed that displacement remained a significant predictor of sexual violence after adjusting for age, location, perpetrator familiarity, and reporting mode (OR = 2.50). These quantitative findings are strongly supported by the qualitative evidence. Multiple respondents described displacement camps as environments where multiple forms of violence converge. The qualitative data further revealed several mechanisms through which displacement increases vulnerability, including overcrowded living conditions that heighten exposure to harassment within households, economic dependence on service providers that creates opportunities for sexual exploitation, weakened rule of law and widespread impunity that limit survivors’ ability to seek protection, and the heightened risks faced by women and girls during displacement journeys, particularly at checkpoints and transit points. Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “The most common forms against displaced women were physical violence, followed by sexual violence and then verbal violence.”

Location Type: Public Spaces as High-Risk Hotspots The bivariate analysis confirmed a statistically significant association between incident location and the type of violence reported. Specifically, among incidents reported as occurring on roads, 81.0% were classified as sexual violence, while the corresponding proportion was 83.3% for incidents occurring in camps. By comparison, 35.5% of incidents reported in homes were classified as sexual violence. Incidents occurring at checkpoints (n = 2) and schools (n = 3) were too few to support reliable statistical inference. Although a smaller proportion of incidents occurring in homes involved sexual violence than incidents occurring on roads or in camps, homes accounted for the largest absolute number of sexual violence incidents, with 50 of the 88 recorded sexual violence cases occurring in domestic settings because homes were the most frequently reported incident location overall. Qualitative findings further indicated that SGBV risks are pervasive across multiple settings. One respondent identified rural areas as particularly high-risk for certain forms of violence, while another highlighted the period between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm as a time of heightened vulnerability, when reduced movement and limited community presence increase women’s exposure to violence. These observations complement the quantitative finding that incidents occurring in public spaces are more likely to involve sexual violence.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “Unfortunately, any place where women are present can become a risky place. Women are exposed to violence at home, in the street, at work, in schools, in universities, in transportation, and in shelter centres.”

Report Mode as an Indicator of Disclosure Barriers Third-party referrals show a 54.3% sexual violence rate, compared with 30.4% for self-reports and 28.0% for observed signs/symptoms. This is consistent with a known pattern in SGBV response; sexual violence is more likely to be disclosed through a trusted intermediary than reported directly by the survivor. The association between age group and report mode is highly significant (X²=44.51, p<0.001), revealing that children disproportionately reach the monitoring system through third-party or observed routes rather than self-disclosure. This is a structural consequence of age-related disclosure barriers compounded by the stigma that suppresses self-reporting of sexual violence across all age groups. In the multivariate model predicting sexual violence, report mode is not significant once other variables are controlled, indicating that age and displacement status explain much of the variation that report mode appears to capture at the bivariate level. The qualitative data extensively explains the disclosure barrier. Multiple respondents described stigma and “honour” as primary barriers, fear of retaliation from powerful perpetrators, and the normalization of violence that further suppresses reporting: Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “Customs, traditions, and stigma, especially in cases of rape and sexual violence, prevented survivors from speaking directly.”

Chronicity, Recurrence, and Normalization In 87% of cases, similar incidents had occurred in the same community before. This is not isolated violence; it is a chronic, ongoing pattern. A high-risk flag was created for cases where threats were made and prior incidents had occurred. This identified 47 high-risk cases. These cases were not linked to any specific type of violence, displacement, or perpetrator, meaning the risk comes from the cumulative pattern itself. Threats significantly predicted the need for follow-up support (OR=2.25, p=0.036). However, prior incidents showed the opposite effect, cases in communities with a history of violence were less likely to be flagged for follow-up.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

This suggests response fatigue or normalization: when violence becomes routine, it may be treated as expected rather than as a crisis requiring intervention. The qualitative data supports the chronicity finding through descriptions of normalization and societal justification: Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “Now it is as if some people are proud of it. You hear that someone beats his wife or abuses another person, and people know that this person is violent, yet there is less fear or shame. Forms of violence have become much more visible, and perpetrators themselves are more visible.”

Emerging and New Forms of Violence The quantitative data captures established categories of violence through the incident type variable. Child marriage was the most common primary incident type (23.7% of coded incidents), followed by other(18.6%), FGM (16.3%), and physical assault (14.9%). Overall, sexual violence accounted for 40.9% of coded incidents. Review of the free-text descriptions recorded under the “other” category showed that the most frequently reported forms of violence were emotional and psychological abuse (12 of 37 entries), followed by economic abuse, verbal abuse, threats and intimidation, neglect, and coercive control, alongside a small number of other non-physical forms of violence. Secondary incident data further revealed important co-occurrence patterns. The qualitative analysis also identified emerging forms of violence that extend beyond the existing incident categories. These included lethal violence against women, with multiple respondents describing killings, stabbings, and dismemberment that were reportedly uncommon in Gedaref City prior to the conflict. Respondents also described digital violence that restricts women’s movement and participation in public spaces, sexual exploitation linked to humanitarian assistance in displacement settings, recruitment of women and girls by armed actors, harassment within schools, and pregnancies resulting from exploitation followed by unsafe abortions. Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “The most striking recent pattern is the killing of women under unclear circumstances; within a short period I heard of three cases of women being killed, some involving dismemberment and dumping of the body.”

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

COMMUNITY-LEVEL IMPACTS The support needs data shows that 88.7% of cases with support needs data indicate a need for psychosocial support, confirming psychological impacts are the dominant assessed need. The model predicting follow-up need has only marginal overall significance, suggesting assessed follow-up need is not strongly explained by case characteristics captured in quantitative data. The qualitative data explains why profound impacts like trauma, isolation, and fear are not captured in quantitative variables. The qualitative data documents severe psychological impacts on survivors. Social impacts include families fearing stigma, restricting girls’ education, and hiding incidents instead of reporting. The community is affected by fear and silence, with families afraid to speak and women fearing stigma or retaliation. Secondary impacts on workers and activists are also documented, with one respondent speaking from personal experience of arrest and psychological distress. The impact goes far beyond the immediate incident, destroying trust, disrupting education, creating fear, and perpetuating cycles of silence: Community Resilience Facilitator, Gedaref “The psychological impacts are very severe. Survivors sometimes come in a state of complete shock, especially young girls who were abducted, raped, became pregnant, or were married early. Some cannot speak, refuse to eat, or try to take their own lives.”

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings from the quantitative analysis and qualitative interviews, the following recommendations are prioritized for programme teams, case managers, and advocacy. Recommendation 1: Prioritize children under 10 years old and adolescent girls Age is the dominant predictor of sexual violence risk. Children under 10 face 11 times the odds and show a 92.9% sexual violence rate. Children make up 56.5% of all survivors and rarely self-report. Action: Develop specialized child protection protocols with age-appropriate referral pathways, child-friendly reporting, and trained case workers. Establish community-based detection systems through trusted intermediaries since children do not self-report. Recommendation 2: Strengthen protection in displacement settings Displaced survivors show a 17% point higher sexual violence rate. Camps show an 83.3% sexual violence rate. Economic vulnerability and weak rule of law drive exploitation. Action: Establish safe spaces and confidential reporting in all camps. Address economic vulnerability through livelihood support and cash assistance. Create accountability mechanisms for perpetrators, including service providers and camp supervisors. Provide protection at checkpoints and transit points. Recommendation 3: Make follow-up offers mandatory in every case Only 9.5% of cases receive referrals. When monitors offer follow-up, referral odds increase 13-fold; the strongest predictor in the dataset. This is not happening consistently (offered in only 28.7% of cases). Action: Institutionalize follow-up offers as a non-discretionary step in every case. Monitor compliance and provide case workers with clear protocols and support to make this standard practice. Recommendation 4: Close the psychosocial support gap Nearly 9 out of 10 survivors (88.7%) needed psychosocial support, which was provided to 9.5% of survivors via referrals through SIHA Network’s Protection, Response and Documentation (PRD) Unit. Action: Map available PSS services, establish formal referral agreements beyond those facilitated through SIHA Network’s PRD Unit, and ensure survivors can access support confidentially. Prioritize this pathway given the severe psychological impacts documented.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

Recommendation 5: Strengthen confidential reporting channels Sexual violence is primarily reported through third parties (54.3%) rather than self-report (30.4%). Stigma, honour, and fear of retaliation are primary barriers. Children almost never self-report. Action: Establish anonymous hotlines, community-based reporting through trusted intermediaries, and safe spaces for disclosure. Conduct community awareness campaigns addressing stigma with religious and traditional leaders. Recommendation 6: Address normalization and perpetrator impunity A near-universal recurrence rate of 87.1% confirms chronic, normalized violence. Perpetrators with power or connections face no consequences. Perpetrator is known in 87% of cases. Action: Implement community prevention programmes challenging norms that justify violence. Engage men and boys through bystander intervention and accountability initiatives. Advocate for stronger rule of law and consequences for perpetrators. Recommendation 7: Strengthen frontline worker safety and capacity Workers described psychological strain, fear of security actors, risk of arrest, and insufficient training. They need advanced training and safe spaces. Action: Provide regular psychosocial support and debriefing for workers. Establish security protocols and legal support if arrested. Invest in advanced, repeated training rather than one-off orientation.

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

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Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan

Safer Communities: Enhancing SGBV Prevention and Response in Sudan - Report on SIHA Network Early Wa