Gama Hassan, a Legal Aid officer for Steward Women during the commemoration of International Human Rights Day in Juba on Monday, 11, Dec 2023. Photo Awan Moses/Eye Radio.

A legal officer has recommended the adoption of digital management of Gender-Based Violence case to prevent the loss of files in the courts and police stations.

Gama Hassan, a legal aid officer with the Steward Women, a women-led organization says the country’s legal system has often experienced challenges of missing files.

“We are in a digital world now, and South Sudan came at a time when the World is moving at a very fast rate and we are supposed to adopt digital case management to address some of these challenges that we are facing, files are disappearing from the police stations or at the court,” he said.

Hassam is also appealing to civil society organizations championing anti-gender-based violence campaigns to advocate for the digitalization of adjudicated cases.

“So, if we could adopt digital case management, this would address some of these challenges, and as CSOs who are on the frontline are providing some of these services I think this is what we should advocate for so that we can address some of the challenges,” Hassan spoke during a panel discussion on; “combatting the culture of stigma against survivors of sexual gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence.”

Responding to the matter, the High Court Judge at the GBV and Juvenile Specialized Court in Juba said the disappearance of files is an administrative issue.

Justice Garang Ajak could not confirm or deny the missing files containing GBV cases but mentioned that those involved would face consequences.

“The missing files are an administrative issue because with any file there is someone responsible for these files from the tracing and movement of the files.

“So when you miss the file, some investigations must be done accordingly and those who are responsible for missing the files in our court must be held responsible and bear the consequence of the missing files.”

On Monday, a group of civil society activists, legal and law enforcement agents, the US Ambassador, and other international agencies gathered in Juba to mark International Human Rights Day.

The day was observed to mark the end of 16 days of activism under the theme “combating the culture of stigma against survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence.”

Prevalence of GBV

More than half of South Sudanese women have experienced some form of gender-based violence, such as child marriage and rape, in their lifetime, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

According to  Justice Garang Ajak,  cases of defilement have increased which is a violation of section 247 of the penal code.  

“The most command cases that we have now are rape which is under section 247, at the same time the culture of our people regarding sexual-minded mostly, especially 247 is committed by those who thought that they were in love.

“A lady is underage and a boy is over age or over 18, they thought that they exercising love,” he said

Section 247 of the penal code says whoever has sexual intercourse or carnal intercourse with another person, against his or her will or without his or her consent, commits the offense of rape, and upon conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years and may also be liable to a fine.

The section further states that consent given by a man or woman below the age of eighteen years shall not be deemed to be consent within the meaning of the subsection above.

Josephine Chandiru, the Executive Director of Steward Women said there is a need to challenge negative norms at the family level by allowing boys to do the work that girls can do and vice versa.

“So, we need to build their confidence so that, they can report. We need to challenge other norms and start at home by educating our boys and girls to do work. A boy can do what a girl is supposed to do, that way, we will start challenging norms from the early stages,” she stressed. 
she said.

“For us to combat GBV and also, its accompanying stigma, we need to address the root causes of the customs that each community believes in and we need also to build the confidence of our victims because we just leave them there, they will not encourage to report,” she added

For his part, the deputy spokesperson of the South Sudan National Police Service encouraged South Sudanese communities to refrain from harmful traditional practices while suggesting that families educate their children including on the use of contraception.

“We should not be shy to talk, we should talk to our children to use condoms and we should not discriminate against them.

“Let us change our attitude, let us change our mindset, let us forget about taboos, Let us embrace the best culture.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Mission Director for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, in South Sudan said addressing GBV and associated stigma is one of their priorities in the country.

“Working with survivors of gender-based violence on stigma is a priority for USAID and for the US government.”

Meanwhile, Yahannes Araya said they have integrated GBV response into some of the programs USAID is supporting in South Sudan, including health and education.

“In South Sudan, it is a crosscutting activity in terms of gender-based violence in our health programs, and in our education, but specifically in our programming right now, trauma healing is involved. We would like to increase that focus here in South Sudan .”

The government and development partners advised those who may experience gender-based violence to call a toll-free number, 623 or 777, for help or to report to the nearby police station.