The Mass Impact of Sexual Assault

In the United States, men and women in the military represent the brave and honorable aspect of our country. Willing to lay down their lives for the freedom of our country, they are widely respected by all US citizens no matter their race, age, or background. However, in other parts of the world such as South Sudan, soldiers aren’t known for such good acts. Instead, they are notorious for being one of the most feared powers in the country, especially by women who have to constantly live in fear while traveling alone. Now, with the issues finally coming to light, solutions are finally being implemented.
During 2015, South Sudan signed a peace treaty to end the bloody civil war between president Salva Kiir’s military and Riek Machar’s rebels that had embroiled the country in conflict since 2013 (Peralta). However, the peace treaty lasted less than a year before another war broke out. As a product of this violence, many of the soldiers roaming the streets of South Sudan have been snatching women off the roads, even tying them to trees and raping them for hours on end (Cumming-Bruce).
There have been countless instances of assault cases over the years, most of which began in the later months of 2018 and have continued to today. Over a 10-day period in November of last year, Doctors Without Border had to treat 125 women and girls who had been assaulted (Pur). The Human Rights Watch found that most of these attacks happened while women and girls traveled to and from town just to get food and to perform daily tasks. So what is being done to fix this major issue in South Sudan? What actions will South Sudan take in order to preserve peace if it can be achieved?
South Sudan has reached out to many foreign aid organizations, such as the UN, to come and provide aid. One division of the UN, called the United Nations Mission in South Sudan or UNMISS, has begun to patrol areas where the sexual assault cases have been most prevalent. The patrols often talk with people traveling long distances for food in order to give citizens more confidence and a sense of security. Furthermore, Indian and British Engineering teams are helping to clear out trees and brush in an effort to open paths for civilians to travel and to find food (Mategwa). This way, women will feel safer while venturing on the roadways alone.

The other key component in fixing sexual assault in South Sudan involves recognizing and holding accountable the parties responsible for supporting these atrocities. South Sudan’s economy relies on the oil extracted from the ground, and because of this the government has, according to a United Nations Commissions panel, been taking “extremely violent measures” in order to secure those oil fields. The oil companies are also exacerbating the issue of sexual assault. For example, the country's biggest oil producing company, the Nile Petroleum Corporation, gives its money to security services, which in turn buys military equipment and hires soldiers. As stated by the oil companies “undermine the peace, security, and stability of South Sudan rather than supporting the welfare of the South Sudanese people” (Cumming-Bruce).
Despite all the efforts being made by foreign aid groups, the violence in South Sudan hasn’t come to an end. These actions did influence the South Sudanese government into creating a new revitalized peace treaty that was entered in September 2018 (“UN investigates”). However in the months after this treaty was passed, the United Nations investigators documented 134 women who were brutally assaulted, fifty of which were girls under the age of eight (Cumming-Bruce). While there are many resources being allocated towards resolving sexual assault in South Sudan, incidents of innocent women being raped and beaten have continued to occur.

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Works Cited:

“Bentiu, South Sudan: A Rape Survivor's Distressing Tale; Women's Desperate Pleas.” UNMISS, 9 Dec. 2018, unmiss.unmissions.org/bentiu-south-sudan-rape-survivor’s-distressing-tale-womens-desperate-pleas

Cumming-bruce, Nick. “Sexual Violence on the Rise in South Sudan, U.N. Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/world/africa/south-sudan-rape-sexual-violence.html

Cumming-bruce, Nick. “Oil Companies May Be Complicit in Atrocities in South Sudan, U.N. Panel Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/world/africa/south-sudan-oil-war-crimes.html?rref=collection/timestopic/South Sudan&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

Peralta, Eyder. “Will South Sudan's New Peace Agreement Hold This Time?” NPR, NPR, 8 Nov. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/11/08/665386800/will-south-sudans-new-peace-agreement-hold-this-time.

“South Sudan: Spate of Sexual Violence.” Human Rights Watch, 18 Dec. 2018, www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/south-sudan-spate-sexual-violence

“UN Investigates Systematic Sexual Violence across South Sudan | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1028571