“Early and forced marriages, domestic violence, and rape continue to affect women. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in the hands of men who are supposed to protect them, “says Aya Benjamin, the Minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare.

According to the human rights reports, South Sudan has remained one of the most difficult places for women and girls in recent years, despite the revitalised peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict and all forms of violence in the country.

Women and girls have continued to experience one of the worst levels of rape and sexual assaults as well as domestic gender-based violence (GBV), exacerbated by ongoing subnational violence in some parts of the country.

Within a span of four months, more than 1,000 GBV cases have been reported so far. In January, Juba Teaching Hospital recorded 330 cases, and the UN Peacekeeping Mission Human Rights department recorded at least 64 cases since the onset of the Leer County, Unity State violence in February.

The figure could be higher because several incidents of GBV have gone unreported or unaccounted for due to the stigma and norms associated with reporting the vice. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which has immensely contributed to the fight against the vice, at least one in three women and girls in South Sudan experiences one or multiple forms of GBV in the country.

Aya says even though the government and partners launched the National Gender-Based Action Plan to combat the vice, women and girls have not been offered adequate protection.

“Women and girls continue to face challenges with limited protection, even in their families where they are supposed to be safe, they still have issues related to rape and divorce, custody of children, lack of inheritance of properties, whether from their fathers or from their deceased husbands,” Aya said.

GBV Court

In December 2020, the government, with support from international partners, established a specialised GBV court in Juba to try and punish perpetrators of the vice and to make South Sudan a GBV-free country, but the vice continues to surge with impunity.

The court is limited to the capital, Juba, with a vast part of the country where most of the cases are committed not accessible. Besides, it has only a few judges and uses the Penal Code to try cases, which has no clear definition of GBV.

Stephen Simon, the head of the Specialized GBV Court, has called for the enactment of specialised GBV law to address the challenges.

However, in most cases, leaders, activists, and humanitarian organisations blamed the vice on complex issues arising from social, economic, and legislative lapses, as well as the failure of law enforcement agencies and sub-national violence, which hampered efforts to combat GBV in the country.

Blame on law enforcement agents

“This is an issue at the core of our peace, stability, and development as a nation,” the Chair of the Gender and Youth Cluster, Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng, said. “Law enforcement agents are not doing their part. When suspects are arrested, the following day they are set free.”

But police on several occasions have blamed the community for not reporting the cases to the authorities, with most of the cases handled traditionally, giving the partners a chance to continue violating the rights of women and girls in the country.

The Speaker of the Revitalised Transitional National Legislative Assembly (RTNLA), Jemma Nunu Kumba said domestic violence, exacerbated by the high rate of poverty and norms that regard women as commodities should be addressed to end GBV in South Sudan.

 “The issue of the economy accelerates GBV because women have no other options to quit abusive relations, abusive marriages, and also, parents give their children to stay in abusive relations because they need dowries,”

“For eradication of poverty and economic empowerment of women is very important and this is something we should look at as a government and all partners to empower women economically so that they can have their economic freedom and be able to say no to gender-based violence,’’ said Nunu.

The UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sara Beysolow Nyanti expressed disappointment with the recent sexual violence against women and girls in Leer Country, where 64 cases were reported.

The Minister of Youth, and Sport, Dr. Albino Bol, also said such human rights violations were unacceptable but pointed to the lack of employment opportunities among the majority of young people in South Sudan as the cause.