Juba- In a voice filled with sadness, Sukiji Alfred (a victim of sexual violence in South Sudan) told Al Jazeera Net, recalling the gang rape she was subjected to in front of her two children in Kajo Keji in 2016: “I don’t want to remember, but it comes back to my mind sometimes and I cry. Sometimes I wonder: Do my children still remember that? And when they grow up, how will they look at their mother?”
In another testimony to Al Jazeera Net, Nyariak Young, who was gang-raped in Juba in 2016, said: “I cannot sleep for more than three hours. I constantly have nightmares, and I always feel that the soldiers will return again.”
UN and human rights data confirm that South Sudan still faces a structural challenge in protecting civilians from sexual violence, especially women and girls, in light of the continuing conflict, the multiplicity of armed actors, and the weakness of justice institutions.
Observers stress that achieving stability requires a permanent cessation of hostilities, strengthening the rule of law, and accelerating the implementation of transitional justice paths, in addition to expanding psychological and social support programs for survivors, to ensure addressing the roots of the crisis and reducing the recurrence of violations in the future.
Continuing violations
Nqor Madeng, director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization in Bor in Jonglei State, said in his interview with Al Jazeera Net: “In recent weeks, the areas of Duk Phedet and Akobo have witnessed a noticeable increase in cases of sexual violence, as more than 40 cases were documented within a short period, with the actual numbers likely to be much higher due to fear of reporting and the difficulty of reaching victims.” He added: “The violations included cases of individual and gang rape and kidnapping, linked to forced displacement campaigns and attacks on villages.”
In a press conference held in Juba last week due to the renewed conflict between the government and the armed opposition in Jonglei state and the emergence of cases of sexual violence, Rebecca James Goang, women’s affairs coordinator at the Upper Nile Youth Development Organization in Upper Nile state, told Al Jazeera Net that “the regions of Nasser, Maban, and Canal have recorded 73 cases of sexual violence since the beginning of the year, including 32 cases of gang rape, in addition to cases of kidnapping and forced marriage.”
As Manal Mariano Adlan, a researcher in the Women’s Empowerment Initiative in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, explained in her interview with Al Jazeera Net: “Since the beginning of the year, Western Bahr el Ghazal State has witnessed about 120 cases of gender-based violence, including 58 cases of rape, including group cases, 30 cases of forced marriage, 20 cases of kidnapping, in addition to other physical attacks.”
Weak accountability
Human rights activists believe that the continued violations are partly related to the delay in implementing the transitional justice mechanisms stipulated in the “Revitalized Agreement to Resolve the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan” (signed in September 2018, which was an attempt to suppress the violent conflict in South Sudan), most notably the Mixed Court for South Sudan, which was supposed to try those responsible for serious crimes committed during the years of conflict.
Although years have passed since the signing of the agreement, the court has not yet been activated, which human rights organizations consider to be one of the most prominent reasons for the continued impunity, especially for crimes related to sexual violence and gross human rights violations.
For her part, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, warned in a statement issued on the sidelines of the seventieth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York last March, “of the continuing gap between legal frameworks and actual implementation in South Sudan,” considering that weak accountability allows violations to continue.
Patten called for accelerating the implementation of transitional justice programs and strengthening protection mechanisms, noting reports of the involvement of multiple parties in incidents of rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery.
Death and psychological disorders
Rebecca James confirms that some cases were linked to the death of victims or their infection with sexually transmitted diseases, as well as severe psychological disorders among male and female survivors, in light of the weakness of health care and psychological support services.
For her part, Manal Mariano warned of the long-term effects of these violations, noting that they include psychological trauma, early pregnancy, and declining educational opportunities among girls.
Human rights organizations point out that the effects of sexual violence are not limited to physical damage, but rather extend to chronic psychological disorders, family disintegration, and social stigma that male and female survivors face for many years.
Documented testimonies of survivors of sexual violence reflect the extent of the long-term psychological and social effects left by these violations.
The repercussions of the conflict continue
Although South Sudan is close to completing 15 years since its separation from Sudan, the country is still facing the repercussions of the armed conflict that broke out in late 2013 between government forces led by Salva Kiir Mayardit and the opposition forces of Riek Machar.
Renewed confrontations in 2016, coupled with the spread of local militias and armed divisions, led to the expansion of violations against civilians, including killing, forced displacement, forced conscription and sexual violence, at a time when efforts to implement the peace agreement continue to face continuing security and political challenges.
Estimates by the United Nations and human rights organizations indicate that the conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives directly and indirectly, and according to the United Nations mission in South Sudan, 193 cases of conflict-related sexual violence were recorded during 2020.
During 2023, the United Nations documented that 118 women, 98 girls, 5 men and children were subjected to conflict-related sexual violations, while during 2024 it recorded about 246 cases of sexual violence as part of more than a thousand violations targeting civilians.
Human rights reports indicate that these violations are committed by governmental and non-governmental parties, and often occur during armed attacks or displacement operations, and include rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage, and kidnapping, in light of the limited prosecutions and weak justice mechanisms, which perpetuates a climate of impunity.
The United Nations mission explained in its latest quarterly report that the period between July and September 2025 witnessed hundreds of conflict-related incidents, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, in addition to 159 cases of kidnapping and 79 cases of conflict-related sexual violence.
