Interior minister Angelina Teny calls for legislations to protect women

JUBA – South Sudan’s interior minister, Angelina Teny, has called for a strategic plan to allocate government funds for the elimination of violence against women.

Teny made her remarks during the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign in Juba on Thursday.

She said that gender-based violence hinders society’s efforts to unlock the full potential of women and girls.

“Violence against women is a societal issue requiring the involvement of all stakeholders,” she said.

The 16 Days of Activism is an annual international campaign to defy violence against all women and girls.

The global campaign runs from November 25 to December 10.

Teny, who spoke on behalf of the minister of gender, child and social welfare, acknowledged the important role that customary courts play in resolving family cases in communities within the country.

“There is a need to strengthen laws that protect our women and girls from violence,” she said.

Violence against women and girls in South Sudan remains an endemic problem that inhibits the full participation of women in decision-making at the community, economy, and society levels.

Joseph Loro, acting undersecretary in the gender, child and social welfare ministry, said that a lot has been done about policies and awareness-raising on gender-based violence in the country.

“A multi-sectoral approach is needed to tackle gender-based violence challenges,” he said, while calling for the expeditious enactment of anti-gender-based violence and family laws.

Ademola Olajide, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Director, stated that violence disproportionately affects women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

“We cannot make sustainable economic progress if we cannot ably address gender-based violence in societies. There is thus a need to change norms that underestimate our women and girls,” he said.

Meanwhile, the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) called upon the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) to use the 16 Days of Activism as an opportunity to expedite the enactment of the anti-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Bill, Family Bill, and Women Enterprise Development Fund.

“We are therefore calling upon the media, all stakeholders, and the general public to participate in the campaign and invest to support the advancement of women’s rights,” it said in a statement.

This year’s campaign theme, “Unite! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls,” calls for global action to focus on financing different prevention strategies to stop violence from occurring.

According to a study conducted by SSLS and Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), up to 90% of gender-based violence cases are heard in customary courts presided over by older male judges with deeply ingrained patriarchal views, which generally condone domestic violence.

The study also found that South Sudan has the second-highest prevalence rate of GBV in the region.

A substantial proportion of its women (aged 15-64) experience gender-based violence either in the form of physical (34.0%) or sexual (13.5%) violence in their lifetime.