Liquor store

Some women of Gumbo-Sherkat in Juba said their husbands have lost sense of responsibility due to excessive consumption of alcohol.

They claimed that men’s drinking addiction has resulted in a poor relationship with their spouses.

This has left many women to be the only bread winners of their families, leaving men irresponsible.

The women say there has been a rise in domestic violence against them – they also fear staying out late as men who drink become violent when drunk.

Speaking to Eye Radio yesterday, the affected women called on the authorities to regulate consumption of alcohol in the country.

One of the women who identified herself only as Aster who spoke to Eye Radio said:

“Majority of them are indulged into drinking alcohol. The government should look into the issue of alcohol. All the shops are full of alcohol,”  told Eye Radio.

“The stomachs of our husbands are all damaged with alcohol. So as we women, we thought if we do not stand together, our children will not study.”

Amina Salim, a 25-year-old, and a mother of three children, told Eye Radio that men’s drinking habits are out of control.

“What do we do, it looks like their habit now. I don’t know maybe because they came from the north [Sudan] and found it here. Here there are all sorts of alcohol, in the shops, in the bars,” Amina told Eye Radio.

“They are so used to it that it is hard to stop them. What we know, the government should build schools, health facilities for us and provide security.”

In 2016, a research carried out by the Norwegian University Cooperation Programme for Capacity Development in South Sudan, shows that the rate of use of alcohol is high, despite decades of civil war and poverty.

According to the research, lack of regular income and psychological distress were the main risk factors for alcohol abuse in the country.