Population size:
11, 218,944 [1]
Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:
Some 65 percent of women and girls in South Sudan have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetimes, and roughly a third of women have experienced sexual violence from a non-partner, often during attacks or raids, according to UNICEF. Reliable data is difficult to find. [2]
No research on male victims or other gender identities.
Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:
No research.
Estimated % change due to COVID-19:
There have been a significant number of COVID-19 cases. The country is already facing a civil war, refugee camps and significant numbers of displaced peoples all of which exacerbates the spread of a pandemic. Therefore, it is challenging to accurately gather the impact of COVID-19 on domestic abuse cases specifically.
Current law and policy:
South Sudan does not have specific Domestic Violence / Abuse legislation. Legislative provisions concerning violence against women and girls are spread throughout international, domestic and other legal instruments.[3] South Sudan has however launched its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2015 for the period of five years, 2015-2020 led by the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare (MGCSW), with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“The overall goal of the NAP is to strengthen the participation of women in peace and security efforts and facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for their leadership and political participation in conflict resolution and allow for more inclusive, just and sustainable peace, recovery and reconstruction processes, where a gender perspective is integrated into the design and implementation of all policies related to peace and security”. [4]
“Newly formed after splitting from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has ongoing conflict with Sudan over oil and territory. The deteriorating security situation mostly affects women and children. Women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking; South Sudanese women and girls, particularly those who are internally displaced, orphaned, refugees or from rural areas, are vulnerable to forced labour and sexual exploitation, often in urban centres; women and girls migrate willingly from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Sudan with the promise of legitimate jobs and are forced into the sex trade; inter-ethnic abductions and abductions by criminal groups continue, with abductees subsequently forced into domestic servitude, herding or sex trafficking.” [5]
It is unclear how the first 2015 - 2020 National Action Plan relates to a new 2017 - 2030 National Action plan which is focussed on the elimination of child marriage by 2030. [6]
Sources
[1] Worldometer, “South Sudan Population (Live)”, (worldometers.info)
[2] https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2020/05/06/coronavirus-south-sudan-
women-abuse-gender-violence ; https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2020/05/06/coronavirus-south-sudan-
women-abuse-gender-violence
[3] UN Women, “Global Database on Violence Against Women”
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