Global Roundup: Women Raped in Sudan War Die by Suicide, Activists vs Abortion Laws in Antigua & Barbuda, App Boosts Kenya Hair Braiders, Trans Candidate for US House, Tunisian women's Prison Writing

tw: rape, suicide

Several women have taken their lives in Sudan's central Gezira state after being raped by paramilitary fighters in the brutal civil war raging in the country, rights groups and activists have said.

The reports come after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was accused by the UN of "atrocious crimes", including mass killings, in the state last week.

With RSF fighters continuing to advance, one rights group has told the BBC it is in contact with six women who are contemplating taking their own lives as they fear being sexually assaulted.

Reports of paramilitary fighters on the rampage in Gezira follow the recent defection to the army of Abu Aqla Kayka, the RSF’s top commander in the state.

The RSF started a revenge campaign in areas under the control of Abu Kayka. They looted, killed civilians who were resisting and raped women and little girls. -Hala al-Karib, head of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (Siha)

Siha, which has been documenting gender-based violence in Sudan during the war, had confirmed three cases of suicide by women over the last week in Gezira state, she said.

Karib said that two were in the village of Al Seriha and a third in the town of Ruffa.

The sister of a woman who took her own life in the village told Siha it happened after she was raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother. The two men were later killed.

The vicious struggle for power between the army and RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million people from their homes since the conflict began in April 2023.

The head of the UN World Food Programme visited the aid hub of Port Sudan this week, and told the BBC that the country could see the world's largest-ever humanitarian crisis if a ceasefire is not reached.

She warned that millions of people could die from starvation.

The evidence of suicides came from only two areas out of the 50 or so villages that have recently come under attack, Karib said, adding that the figure could be higher as mobile communications were patchy.

A female activist from Gezira, who asked to remain anonymous as she feared for her life, told the BBC she had confirmed accounts of women taking their lives after their husbands had been killed by the RSF.

She had seen WhatsApp messages from one woman who described how her sister had taken her own life after being raped by RSF militiamen, who had also killed five of her brothers and some of her uncles also in Al Seriha.

But like Siha, she said it was impossible to verify accounts on social media of reported mass suicides of women fearing rape given the communication problems.