From Left: Catherine Latto, the sexual reproductive health rights activist and gender advisor, Data Gordon, the Executive Director of the Men for Women organization, and Kevin Abalo, the Executive Director of the Resilience Organization - Credit: Moses Awan/Eye Radio

Some activists are calling on government, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and private sectors to ensure employees are regularly trained on protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment at their workplaces.

They say the acts are against human rights and amount to crimes.

Media reports suggest that young women in South Sudan are facing sexual harassment at places of work as they strive to build their careers.

Due to this, some leave their jobs.

Sexual exploitation is defined as an actual or attempted abuse of someone’s position of vulnerability -such as a person depending on you for survival, food rations, school, books, transport or other services – differential power or trust, to obtain sexual favours, including but not only, by offering money or other social, economic or political advantages.

Sexual abuse means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. It includes sexual slavery, pornography, child abuse and sexual assault.

Whereas Sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, it is also prohibited under the Penal Code.

According to the United Nations, sexual harassment may occur in the workplace or in connection with work, while typically involving a pattern of conduct, sexual harassment may take the form of a single incident.

In September last year, a joint investigation unveiled by The New Humanitarian and Aljazeera found that UN staff and aid-workers prolonged sexual abuse of civilians at Malakal Protection of Civilian Sites.

It allegedly extended to involve some of the staff of international agencies such as the IOM, MSF, WFP, and World Vision workers, who the findings named as alleged perpetrators.

A day after the report, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ordered an “urgent report” detailing the actions taken against aid workers who allegedly committed sexual abuses at the UN-run camp in Malakal, Upper Nile.

According to the Penal Code, whoever uses his or her position of authority or advantage to offer a benefit in exchange for sexual favours; intimidate another person or threaten retaliation if such person refuses to engage in any type of sexual relations; and engage in any unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature with respect to another person, including, but not limited to inappropriate touching, commits the offence of sexual harassment.

Catherine Latto is the sexual reproductive health rights activist and gender advisor at the Young Women’s Christian Association.

She says the government, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and private sectors should all be aware of their staff on the prevention and protection against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Catherine calls for an end and punitive measures against those who commit such crimes.

She was speaking on the Dawn show on Thursday, October 26, to mark the day of Action Against Sexual Exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

“Within our workspace, we have SEAH and everything, what we have been talking about the policies and all that, I think it is important to track and to keep staff in line and in check,” said Catherine.

“Once in a while, we have to do training on SEAH for our staff and our volunteers to see that people are updated,” she said.

“We also have to keep ourselves updated in a way that we have to do research and follow up on issues of SEAH that are happening elsewhere, so we can bring that information and enrich our own policies within our organizations.”

“Awareness creation on the topic is really very important, we make sure that everybody knows what it is and what forms are those.”

Data Gordon, the Executive Director of the Men for Women organization, encouraged all institutions in the country to ensure they have policies to protect from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

“The institutions, we should be able to have systems in place that protect and prevent sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment,” said Gordon.

“I also want to urge everyone that you can report on behalf of someone, you don’t only report if it happens to you but you can report on behalf of someone.”

For her part, the Executive Director of the Resilience Organization called for more awareness of the forms of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Kevin Abalo said many women and girls have been victimized but due to a lack of awareness, they end up silent about it.

She said all stakeholders should also take the matter seriously.

“Staff general, NGO sectors, private sectors, even in the government sectors, nobody really had been so much paying attention about sexual exploitation and abuse and it is happening every day in our workplaces,” said Abalo.

“A lot of young women are suffering from sexual exploitation and abuse, but nobody has really taken it so much into consideration because there is a lack of awareness on that,” she said.

“Even a highly educated lady does not even know that this is a crime on her, corruption, like the exchange of your body for something and you don’t know that it is a crime.”

“It is something that for us in South Sudan really needs much more awareness so that everybody will be aware of it.”

According to InterAction – the largest U.S.-based alliance of international NGOs and partners founded in 1984 – sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment is a type of gender-based violence that is perpetrated by humanitarian and development workers against program participants, community members, or fellow staff members.

This year’s theme for the Day of Action Against Sexual Exploitation, abuse, and harassment is Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day, and is reflective of the centrality of protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment to the work of humanitarians and development workers.