Sudanese anti-coup protesters took to the streets to condemn sexual and gender-based violence, after a university student was allegedly gang-raped by security forces in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday 14 March 2022.

The 19-year old South Sudanese woman was travelling on a minibus along some people who had been protesting against the military coup and rising living costs earlier that day when security forces fired tear gas into the minibus, causing passengers to disembark. 

Sulaima Ishaq, who heads Sudan's Violence Against Women Unit at the Ministry of Social Development, confirmed that the woman was separated from her travelling companion, attacked and raped by security forces. 

Residents in the area heard screams and rushed to rescue her.

Reuters reports that protesters carried banners reading "Wars are not fought on women's bodies” and “we will not be broken.” 

On social media, activists are using a hashtag which translates from Arabic to "They will not break you" in a show of solidarity with victims and survivors of sexual violence."

What happened yesterday is not just oppression of women but of the whole Sudanese people, and we will continue to take to the street until our demands of freedom, justice, and human dignity are granted," said Amira Salih, a 38-year-old teacher.

The use of sexual violence as a weapon is not new to Sudan. Human rights groups have documented the rape of hundreds of women in the war in Darfur.