The Chairperson of the Women Parliamentary Caucus in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly says the caucus will move a private member bill to protect women if the Minister of Justice fails to do so.

Dusman Joyce says there are no laws on family and against sexual harassment to protect women rights.

“We don’t have a family law and this family law we need it to be tabled in the parliament or we need to table it as private bill if the government is not coming out with it. But we are not going to do it without the notice of the government,” Ms. Dusman said.

Ms. Dusman says the caucus will consult with the Ministry of Justice to present these bills; if the ministry does not do this, members of the caucus will present their own.

“We have to consult with the Ministry of Justice. We need to find out if the family bill is there. Why is it not tabled in the parliament? And the other thing is sexual harassment law. So we need to know, we need to find out the sexual violence against women, death law; is it there? If it’s not there we have to table it as a private bill because it can protect us. So, it’s the work of the caucus. We are going to follow it [up],” said Ms. Dusman.

Ms. Dusman spoke about women issues in an interview with Eye Radio in Juba, after a workshop about the UN Resolution on women peace and security.