Sexual violence on the rise in South Sudan, says UNMISS
August 7, 2022 (JUBA) – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has expressed concerns that cases of conflict-related sexual violence are emerging, despite a decline in the number of civilians affected by violence across the country.
UNMISS, in a statement, said its latest human rights report documented at least 922 civilian casualties, which is a 15 percent decrease in victims compared with the same period in 2021.
The report also noted a 218 percent increase in conflict-related sexual violence – rape and gang-rape, among other forms of sexual violence linked to conflict – during the same period.
“The exponential surge in sexual and gender-based violence is completely unacceptable, impacting most severely on the women and girls. This violence that divides communities and hampers reconciliation needs to end,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Nicholas Haysom.
UNMISS says it supports the authorities to ensure accountability and access to justice for survivors and victims, through a range of special and mobile courts such as the adjudication of rape trials through a General Court Martial process in Yei, Central Equatoria State.
“As was the case in the first quarter of 2022, inter-communal conflict continued to be the primary source of civilian harm accounting for 60 percent of civilian casualties, while 38 percent of casualties were caused by Government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) who are increasingly relying on allied militias engage in conflict. One clear example is the case in southern Unity State, where violence resulted in about a third of civilian casualties in the reporting period,” the statement reads in part.
The mission, however, urged the government of South Sudan to urgently investigate human rights violations and abuses and to hold perpetrators to account while calling for the full implementation of the 2018 peace agreement to enable the security sector to protect civilians.
South Sudan laws provide for protection of women and girls from sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence, including rape, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
(ST)