Women’s bodies are not a battlefield. But violence against women is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan, amid one of the world’s most horrific humanitarian crises.

Girls said their brothers, uncles, and fathers provided them with knives, adding, “They told us to kill ourselves if the fighters threatened to rape us.”

In other testimonies, survivors said, “Women threw themselves into the river to avoid being attacked by armed men,” while “others fled and hid because their families threatened to kill them in order to wash away their honor.”

With an alarming rise in sexual violence — which can be extremely underreported in conflict settings like Sudan — UNFPA is stepping up our work to keep women and girls safe from harm.

UNFPA works to support survivors around the world by providing access to mental health care, clinical treatment for rape, legal counsel, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and prenatal and safe delivery care. We also support safe houses for survivors of sexual violence, and work to sensitize health care workers and communities to the experiences of survivors.

Your support makes this work possible around the world, which is why we’re appealing to you today:

Will you make a gift today to be there for survivors and help keep women and girls safe from harm?

Thank you for standing with survivors of sexual violence.

— USA for UNFPA