![Participants at the advocacy workshop on the Anti-GBV bill pose for a photo in Juba on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Picture1.jpg?resize=1379%2C919&quality=89&ssl=1)
The ministry, in collaboration with the Christian Agency for Peace and Development (CAPAD) and Equality Now, organized a one-day advocacy workshop on the Anti-GBV bill and related legislation under the theme: “Strengthening Advocacy for Gender Equality, Mobilizing Support for Anti-GBV and Related Legislative Framework.”
Addressing the high-level consultative stakeholders’ meeting, Gender, Child, and Social Welfare Minister Aya Benjamin stated, “This is a significant step as it comes five years after the bill was first tabled in parliament in 2019.”
She added, “It underscores the government’s renewed commitment to addressing the alarming rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in South Sudan.”
The latest 2024 statistics reveal a record rise in GBV cases in South Sudan. Between April and June 2024, the UN Mission in South Sudan documented 317 violent incidents affecting at least 1,062 civilians, including 160 women and 188 children.
These incidents led to 442 deaths and left 297 people injured. The report highlights those 197 cases involved abductions, while 126 individuals were subjected to sexual violence, showing a concerning 181% increase in abductions compared to the same period in 2023.
Prompted by these alarming figures, the Ministry of Gender announced the formation of an Anti-GBV task force on October 26, 2024, to expedite the bill’s enactment and reduce GBV cases.
Peter Malier, Executive Director of CAPAD, welcomed the ministry’s move to establish a task force, noting that it would expedite the bill’s passage.
“We welcome the move by the ministry to appoint a task force to accelerate the enactment of the Anti-GBV bill in our country, as it will foster the implementation of the African Charter on Rights and Welfare of the Child, family law, and the 2008 Child Rights Act,” Malier said.
“It also aids in the domestication and implementation of treaties South Sudan has ratified to ensure the protection of South Sudanese women and girls,” he added.
Nina Masore, a program officer with Equality Now, praised the bill’s reforms.
“We welcome this move as the Anti-GBV bill seeks to reform and consolidate South Sudan’s stance on gender-based violence,” she said, adding that the bill encompasses provisions for domestic violence, sexual violence, harmful customary practices, child protection, and more.
According to Masore, the bill also proposes structures like the Anti-GBV Committee, the Anti-GBV Fund, specialized courts, and family protection centers to ensure comprehensive support and protection for survivors.
UN data indicate that in 2018 alone, 2,300 cases of sexual violence were reported in South Sudan, placing the country second only to Uganda for the highest rate of sexual violence in East Africa.
The commitment to addressing GBV aligns with South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution (2011, as amended), particularly Articles 16 and 17, as well as the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS, 2018).
The Anti-GBV Bill seeks to align with the Transitional Constitution by addressing all forms of GBV, including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), domestic violence, intimate partner violence, physical violence, psychological violence, and economic violence.
It also tackles harmful customary practices such as child marriage, forced marriage, abduction, polygamy, and female genital mutilation, as well as widow compensation, as specified in Articles 15 and 16(4)(a) of the Transitional Constitution.
