Children should be able to go to school and learn without fear. Authorities should ensure these basic rights.
For girls in South Sudan, this is harrowingly not the case, as a few recent examples make clear.
On June 25, armed men in Pochalla North, Jonglei state reportedly abducted four female students as they travelled to sit for secondary school exams. The local community have organized search efforts, but the four remain missing.
The same month, police said they had arrested seven suspects in the gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. An alleged video of the attack spread online, generating public outrage.
In May, armed youth surrounded a girls’ boarding school in Marial Lou, Warrap state, trapping at least 100 students inside. The United Nations peacekeeping mission had to negotiate an end to the siege.
These incidents are part of an all-too-familiar story in South Sudan where a girl’s body, her education, and her future are under constant threat.
Generations of conflict, widespread access to arms, and patriarchal customs have long turned women’s and girls’ bodies into battlegrounds. As HRW expert Nyagoah Tut Pur says, they are used as spoils of war or bargaining chips in intercommunal disputes.
The encouraging part of this is that South Sudanese communities are mobilizing to protect girls. Activists are organizing public forums to encourage survivors to speak out.
This gives hope such behavior and practices may change.
However, meaningful protection still depends on authorities ensuring accountability for perpetrators. Currently, convictions are rare in cases of attacks on women and girls.
The state needs to fulfil its legal obligations to protect women and girls. South Sudan has signed up to numerous international treaties that are relevant here. These include the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Safe Schools Declaration.
Going forward, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Justice have promoted the Anti-Gender Based Violence and Child Protection Bill. This could strengthen legal protections, criminalize forced and child marriage, and guarantee survivors free medical and psychosocial support. Parliament should prioritize the bill’s adoption.
Girls in South Sudan should be able to go to school and learn without fear. It’s ultimately on the government to make that “should” a reality.
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