Juan Christopher [not her real name] the GBV Survivor sharing her story with Eye Radio, Feb. 2020 |Credit| | Eye Radio

“A minor misunderstanding between me and my husband led to a serious beating that made me collapse, he waited for me to regain consciousness and he started beating me again,” so after the beating in 2018, I started experiencing pain on daily bases sometimes, I fainted whenever I walk and in the bathroom,” said the survivor of the domestic violence in Juba.

“Torture is a crime under our laws nobody should be subjected to torture and there is no court of law that will subject anyone to torture leave alone individuals that are married,” said Reech Malual, the Executive Director of the civil society organization – The Screen of Rights.

Gender-based violence is a phenomenon deeply rooted in gender inequality and continues to be one of the most notable human rights violations within all societies.

Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of their gender.

Both women and men experience gender-based violence but the majority of victims are women and girls.

In early 2019, UNICEF South Sudan noted that Gender-based violence remains one of the most critical threats to the protection and well-being of women and children in South Sudan.

It said GBV was already widespread prior to the conflict and is now nearing epidemic proportions.

According to Some South Sudanese human rights experts, these high levels of violence stem from the objectification of women and girls, which can be traced to one of the fundamental elements of South Sudan society: the local political economy of “bride price.”

The name of the character in this story has been withheld for her security and safety.

Juan Christopher [not real name] – a 34-year-old mother of one who has been experiencing domestic violence just a year after her marriage in 2017.

She stated that her husband sometimes beat her for no reason at all and emotionally tortures her by bringing home his girlfriends. Whenever she questions his actions, she ends up being beaten up.

Juan said that efforts by both her family and the family of her husband to solve the situation have all been in vain and that her husband did not stop assaulting her.

One fateful day, Juan says her husband beat her badly that she sustained serious injuries on her skull, the spinal cord and one of her eyes-which she says has affected her sight since then.

“A minor misunderstanding between me and my husband led to a serious beating that made me collapse, he waited for me to regain consciousness and he started beating me again,” so after the beating in 2018, I started experiencing pain on daily bases sometimes, I pain in the when I walk and even in the bathroom,” she said.

“It took less than four months again he beat me badly to the extent that I was admitted to the hospital and the beatings continued, last year he continued with the beating and started strangling me at night when we’re sleeping.”

As if that was not enough, Juan said that her husband dragged her to the customary court – also referred to as the B court in the capital Juba and filed for a divorce.

While at the court, Juan confessed that the chiefs at the B Court accused her of being a liar for saying she developed health complications as a result of the beatings from her husband and threatened to imprison her.

“He [hunsband] took me to the court and told the judges that he had been looking for me from 27th of January to 13th February and he has not found me and he does not know where my relatives have hidden me so that means we have colluded with my relatives to do something else,” Juan said.

“He [husband] claimed that am not sick and he wants to go on with the process of divorce, I told the Judge that this guy has never called my number and also if he tried my number and it wasn’t available he knows where our home is and he didn’t come and he also didn’t send anyone to our home.”

“If he claims that he fears that he will be beaten then he got it wrong because all these years he has been beating me and none of my relatives asked or touched him because of beating me, why didn’t he come to look for me? Juan asked.

“The judges said I have a bad attitude and they will imprison me, in return, I answered the judges that it’s my right and am not feeling well.  They [Judges] threatened me and said that I am not sick. I told them, I know my body very well and I know how I am feeling. My voice is not clear because I have dried throat and I need to have water all the time.”

“On the 11th  February, I suffered a lot, my mother called my husband to take me to the hospital, upon reaching the hospital the doctor directed that I should be taken immediately for CT scan, after the CT scan they took me home.”

“He [husband] deceived my mother and took all the hospital results and form 8 from the police because my case was not a normal sickness but a case of domestic violence.”

“He took all the documents and went further and blocked my numbers. We tried calling him from on 11th February, all was in vain and suddenly caught by surprise that he sent a summon from the court that there is a siting on the 23rd  February.”

Most of the gender-based violence survivors in South Sudan do not get justice for the wrongs they suffer. Some of them even fear to speak out for fear of revenge from the perpetrator.

Juan Christopher (not Real Name) is now demanding to be treated of her spine and the bruises she sustained on her skull then she can sign the divorce papers.

Regina Eluzai, – is a relative of Juan Christopher.

Mrs. Regina said as a family, they are concerned about the condition of Juan Christopher after suffering domestic violence a number of times.

But she insists that Juan deserves to be treated from the injuries and then the matter can be handled.

“As a family, we wanted to solve their differences amicably because there is no family that would want to see their child’s marriage get spoiled because if there is a problem both families should sit and iron it out,” said Regina.

“Now that it has reached to this extent the law has to take its course such that she can have some rest from the beatings and the problems she’s going through.”

“Even if someone is bad it’s better to leave the person when she is fine the same way you got her not with bruises and injuries, we shall see steps to take forward after her treatment.”

Benson Lejo – a witness during Juan’s court case in the B court said, before the issue reached the court, they attempted to resolve the misunderstanding between the couple but with no success.

He said the chiefs at the B court ordered that Juan recovers from her injuries first before the divorce proceedings can continue.

“We tried to tackle the problem in a smooth way but the husband is someone who does not listen, lastly he decided to take the wife to court for divorce the chief said that she [Juan] has to go for clear medication before the divorce.”

“He [chief] urged Juan and her husband to go and get clear information from the doctor to show that Juan is well then after that they can give her a divorce certificate.”

Josephine Chandiru – is the executive director of the women rights organization “The Steward Women”.

Ms. Chandiru condemned the abuse against Juan Christopher and says her organization is going to offer Ms. Juan a legal aid services that she will require to get justice for the violence she has experienced.

“Looking at the fact that the husband has hidden all her documents, personally I would love to talk to her one on one and then try to write a letter to her husband for me to pick up the issue, I need to talk to the husband,” said Chandiru.

“We can’t just leave it at the level of the B court, you know usually when you take the matter to the court and that level of the court fails or you feel dissatisfied by the decision taken by the lower court then your free to go to a higher court, Steward women is going to offer her a lawyer.”

According to articles 13 and 18 of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, torture is a crime and is punishable by imprisonment.

Advocate Reech Malual – the Executive Director of the civil society organization – The Screen of Rights said torture is considered the modern-day slavery and it is punishable by law.

He said that since Juan has experienced torture that has caused bodily harm, she should immediately take the case to court such that she can get justice.

Reech said nobody deserves to be exposed to such inhuman behavior.

“Because she has been tortured and the fact that she has a fracture in her skull and her backbone she can be able to go straight away to the court because that’s an inflicted harm in her body that can be treated separately from her problems in the marriage,” said Reech.

“First of all, torture is a crime and is not allowed under our laws and the bill of rights the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011.”

“We have article 13 of the transitional constitution of the Republic of South Sudan that prohibits and gives freedom from slavery substitute and others, for example; if I get married to somebody, and make her do things against her will by force and beat her when I am not happy that’s considered slavery, and our constitution is very clear on that it’s called modern slavery.”

“Number two, the other article of the constitution is Article 18 of the transitional constitution of the Republic of South Sudan as amended, granted freedom from torture.”

“Torture is a crime under our laws nobody should be subjected to torture and there is no court of law that will subject anyone to torture leave alone individuals that are married.”

“This should be very clear that article 18 of the transitional constitution of the Republic of South Sudan is very clear that nobody should be allowed to torture anybody.”

Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most critical threats to the protection and wellbeing of women and children in South Sudan.

However, according to studies contacted by UNICEF – the report indicates that some 65% of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, and some 51% have suffered intimate partner violence.

The report further revealed that some 33% of women have experienced sexual violence from a non-partner, primarily during attacks or raids. The majority of girls and women experience sexual violence for the first time under the age of 18.