Infants as young as one raped in Sudan, UNICEF says

FILE PHOTO: Orphans and children separated from their parents in Kadugli gather to eat boiled leaves at an IDP Camp within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) controlled area in Boram County, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan June 22, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

GENEVA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Children under five, including babies, are among victims of sexual violence in the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to findings shared on Tuesday by U.N. children's agency UNICEF.

The U.N. agency cited a database compiled by Sudan-based groups helping survivors of sexual violence which showed that of 221 cases involving children registered since last year, 16 were under five years old, including four one-year-olds. About one-third of victims were male, it said.