Martha Jobe Jeremiah, an Advocate & Commissioner for Oath. (Photo: File).

An advocate called on social researchers to find the root causes and motives for forced marriage in the country.

Martha Jobe Jeremiah, an Advocate & Commissioner for Oath says the age of marriage is stipulated in the 2011 constitution.

Martha says that marriage is based on acceptance, not coercion.

she says the government needs to enhance laws to protect women’s and girls’ rights.

“There is a need to conduct research because it is through the research that laws can be enacted to protect communities from the such social phenomenon,” Mrs. Jobe said.

The legal advocate suggests that a research be carried out to determine the reason for child marriage.

“Since the constitution says there must be consent, this should be specified and I still stress that social research must be carried out to determine the real reason for forced marriage and what could be the possible solution.”

According to the UN, nearly half of all girls in South Sudan marry before the age of 18.

A 2013 report from Human Rights Watch highlighted that dowry leads families to force their girls to marry as early as possible, often at the age of adolescence.

In recent months, two teenage girls filed police cases against their parents over attempted forced marriage in Juba and Northern Bahr El Ghazal State.