Prostitutes El Fasher
In the besieged city of El Fasher, sex workers operate under constant threat as Sudan’s civil war intensifies. Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias now encircle the city after capturing surrounding villages, trapping civilians and commercial sex workers alike. These women face dual perils: indiscriminate shelling that has destroyed neighborhoods and targeted sexual violence from armed groups. Humanitarian corridors remain blocked, leaving prostitutes without access to medical care or safe relocation options.
Survival Mechanisms
Prostitutes in El Fasher have developed crisis-driven protocols, conducting transactions in bombed-out buildings during daytime lulls in fighting. Many exchange services for basic necessities like food or water rather than currency, which has become nearly worthless. “We bury our earnings in tin cans beneath the rubble,” one sex worker reported through an aid coordinator. This underground economy persists despite RSF snipers controlling major supply routes into the city.
Humanitarian Crisis Impact
International aid groups cite El Fasher’s prostitution surge as a direct consequence of collapsed infrastructure. With 85% of hospitals non-functional and famine conditions worsening, sex work becomes one of few survival options. UNICEF reports adolescent girls increasingly entering the trade after family separations. Medical Sans Frontières notes: “We treat sex workers for malnutrition and bullet wounds in the same tents.”
When the bombs start at night, clients run and we don’t get paid – but staying means risking rape by soldiers
Conflict-Specific Dangers
The battle for El Fasher has created unique hazards for prostitutes. RSF fighters reportedly use sexual services as “spoils of war” while Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) detain women suspected of servicing enemy combatants. Landmine explosions near known meeting spots have killed at least 17 sex workers since April. Satellite imagery shows previously identified red-light districts now reduced to ashes from artillery duels.
*TAGS* – commercial sex work Darfur, RSF sexual violence, wartime prostitution risks, Sudan conflict survival, underground economies siege
