A nationwide survey has shown that Lakes State is leading in forced and early child marriage followed by Jonglei State due to social and cultural norms.

The survey also indicated that physical violence is the leading form of Gender-Based-Violence in the country.

The Ministry of Gender, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Sudd Institute conducted primary data between December 2021 to December 2022 to determine the GBV rate and contributing factors associated with the rise in rural and urban areas.

Supported by the United Nations Population Fund, the exercise was conducted in 28 counties of the ten States and three administrative areas.

The survey assessed physical and sexual violence, psychological, economic and other harmful practices such as forced and child marriage in the targeted locations.

5,210 women, men, girls, and boys between the ages of 15 – 64 were interviewed in a random, household, rural and urban areas survey in the selected counties.

Dr. Augustino Ting Mayai, the Managing Director of the Sudd Institute and Chief Investigator says poverty, inability to provide for the family, polygamy, and urban versus rural life, are some of the contributing factors leading to economic, physical, and psychological violence.

He spoke to Eye Radio after presenting the findings during a validation workshop attended by government officials and development partners in Juba yesterday.

“What we have seen is that in terms of ranking, we have physical violence being at the top then we have economic, and we have psychological and then sexual violence come much later,” Augustino Ting said.

“You have forced marriage and child marriage between 60% which is the highest in Lakes State to something below 20% in other States.”

Dr. Ting says Ruweng Administrative Area is leading in the prevalence of gender-based violence followed by neighboring Unity State, Upper Nile, Warrap, and Central Equatoria State.

During the survey, the think tank notes that very few cases of gender-based violence and other harmful practices are being reported to the relevant institutions.

Dr. Ting, however, recommended that the government take the lead in developing laws and policies that combat harmful practices in the community.

He also suggested the need for economic empowerment for the victims and enforcement of law enforcement agents to respond to gender-based violence at different levels.

“The government should provide the laws but also interventions that are contingent on the laws. So, if somebody is beaten up where they go, the majority of people are reporting to the families, but they are not reporting to the authorities,” said Augustino Ting.

“The police are the least consulted, but the police should be the most consulted, so the government needs to have its gain in terms of dealing with GBV so for example Lakes has introduced its own internal rules and laws and is pushing on that,

“Lakes should get more resources in order to combat this practice such as forced or early marriage,

“The ministry of justice and ministry of Interior need to work together to roll out more laws and hire more police officers who are dedicated to these issues to be able to address them but you need economic investment.”

For her part, the national Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Aya Benjamin Warrile says the data will enable her ministry to develop policies and programs that will address the GBV.

“The ministry has been struggling with data and to us, this is very important so that we can develop policies and programs that would address GBV in South Sudan,” said Aya Benjamin Warrile.

According to the Ministry of Gender, this is the first national survey on the prevalence of gender-based violence the country has conducted since its independence in 2011.