“We Traded Our Bodies for Milk”: MSF Exposes Horrifying Abuse of Sudanese Women in Chad Refugee Camps.

In a devastating admission, the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has confirmed that its own staff and local men are sexually exploiting vulnerable Sudanese women and girls in refugee camps in Chad.

An internal investigation, which took over a year to complete, found that desperate mothers and underage girls were forced into horrific situations just to survive. They reported being coerced into trading sex for basic necessities like food, water, and even milk for their babies. Others were told they would only get jobs with the aid organization if they gave in to sexual demands. Some women were simply forced into prostitution.

The crisis is severe. Chad is currently hosting hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the brutal war in Sudan, and MSF is one of the largest providers of medical and nutritional aid there.

The ugly truth only came to light after an Associated Press (AP) report in 2024 prompted MSF to take a hard look in the mirror. Their “candid internal analysis,” conducted from 2024 to 2025, was completed last July but only made public this week.

The findings are gut wrenching. MSF recorded 59 official allegations of abuse and misconduct, which they admit is “a serious breach of our values and responsibilities.” They added, “We deeply regret the harm caused.” At least 18 staff members have already been fired and permanently blacklisted.

But the real number is likely much higher. Many victims refused to speak, paralyzed by fear. They told investigators they stayed silent because they were terrified of losing access to medical care or food aid if they complained.

Some of the cases are chilling:

· The Abduction of Seven Girls: In one incident, seven young refugee girls were loaded into an MSF vehicle. They were told they were going to water distribution points and construction sites to work. Instead, they were driven elsewhere and “exposed to” sexual abuse.

· “Sleep with Your Boss or You’re Fired”: Female Chadian staff working for MSF were threatened with losing their jobs if they refused to have sex with their male supervisors or colleagues.

MSF admitted they were blind to most of this abuse until AP’s reporting forced their hand. They tried to fix it with a week of abuse-prevention training in 2023, but it didn’t stick. They blame high staff turnover and a desperate rush to hire people. Because they needed bodies on the ground quickly, they skipped proper background checks and ended up hiring people who already had a history of misconduct.

Now, the organization is recommending major changes: clear conduct rules for everyone, better reference checks when hiring, and a single, shared database to ensure abusers can never simply get rehired at another camp.