Latto Catherine, Gender Advisor for Young Women Christian Association - Credit: Eye Radio/Lou Nelson - April 8, 2024

A women’s rights activist has decried the inadequate law enforcement in the country, citing convicts of gender-based violence are set free before finishing their jail terms.

Latto Catherine, Gender Advisor for Young Women Christian Association says, she witnessed some convicts of rape on the streets of Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal before completing their imprisonment terms.

According to Catherine, South Sudan has good policies and laws prohibiting and punishing acts of Gender-Based Violence, but these are not implemented.

She calls for measures to be put in place to ensure justice prevails.

“We have to make sure that we have measures in place. You know the country has good laws but they only remain on paper when addressing GBV,” said Catherine.

“The other day in Wau, it seems that the word rape has been used as a means of income. People go and report rape that has not even happened because they want compensation,” she said.

“Imagine someone who has committed a rape and is sentenced to prison but the next day, you see them on the street walking free.

“I am speaking from experience. It happened, somebody has been sentenced to six, seven years in prison and then the following day, two weeks later, you are finding them on the street.”

Wani Robert, a representative of the United Nations Youth Association for South Sudan, emphasizes the necessity for the government to strengthen grassroots mechanisms to combat this issue.

“If the government doesn’t take strict measures on this issue, it will just be like a story,” said Robert.

“I think there is a need for our government or the people with influence to come up with a harmonious approach to addressing this issue,” he said.

“We need to address this issue at the grassroots level like the communities where we come from.”