Forced Marriage Overseas: South Sudan
Overview
Individuals from the United States may face substantial challenges if trying to avoid and/or escape marriages in South Sudan. The world’s newest state, South Sudan still struggles with internal violence and unrest resulting from an over 20-year civil war. While the country’s new Constitution and laws attempt to provide protections for women and girls, discrimination and violence against women – including domestic abuse and forced marriage – continue to be widspread.1
For further information and guidance for individuals from the U.S. that are facing or fleeing a forced marriage in South Sudan, please contact the Forced Marriage Initiative.
Marriage in South Sudan
Women and girls in South Sudan have severely limited rights when entering into or attempting to dissolve a marriage. Currently, there is no one specific statutory law governing marriage and divorce in South Sudan. The Constitution recognizes the customary laws and traditions of over 80 South Sudanese ethnic groups as governing personal matters, including marriage and divorce, for their members.2 There does not appear to be a minimum age for marriage under the customary laws of the various ethnic groups in South Sudan, and in practice girls are frequently married off once they attain puberty, often without their consent.3 Divorces are granted in accordance with the applicable customary law of the individual seeking divorce.4 Divorce is generally easier for men to obtain, and children usually stay with the father and his family. The bride price system also makes divorce and separation more difficult for women, because repayment of the the bride price can cause friction if it has already been distributed amongst family members. As a result, families have a financial incentive to ensure that marriages remain intact even if women and girls face abuse.5
Forced and child marriage are both serious and widespread problems in South Sudan. A recent Human Right Watch report found that almost all girls interviewed said they had been forced into marriage, and close to half (48%) of girls between 15 and 19 are married.6 Girls are often viewed as financial burdens, particularly for families living in poverty, and marriage is seen as a way to provide for girls, or to secure much-needed assets for families, including cattle, money, and other gifts via the payment of a bride price. Those who delay marrying may be scorned by their communities and labeled as “expired” goods. For some girls, marriage may be viewed as the the only way to escape poverty or violence in the home.7
Girls and women may also be arrested or imprisoned for attempting to marry without the consent of their families, for refusing to marry the man chosen for them, or for running away after a bride price has been paid. Women and girls who flee impending marriages or run away from their marital home are often be subjected to abuse, and in some extreme cases, are killed by their families or husbands.8 Rape victims are often pressured to marry their rapists to avoid public dishonor.9 In rural areas, the abduction of women and children during cattle raids is common and many abducted girls, often subject to repeated rape, are then forced into marriages.10
Potential Risks and Protections in Country
Women and girls facing a forced marriage will likely be unable to access protections in South Sudan. Customary laws and traditional practices focus on reconciliation and family unity, and do not provide sufficient protection from violence for women and girls.11 Gender roles and positions are clearly defined and strictly enforced.12 Domestic violence is very common in South Sudan, and police often refuse to respond to domestic violence situations, sending women home so that the issue can be addressed within the family.13 This lack of protection can prevent a woman or girl from leaving an abusive family home or marriage.14 Gender-based violence is often not reported because of the negative social stigma placed on victims, and because perpetrators of violence sometimes take retaliatory action against victims who report. Soldiers and police officers are often the perpetrators of gender-based violence in South Sudan, but under current law, these individuals are immune from prosecution.15 Additionally, there is minimal police presence outside of large cities, so women and girls in villages often turn to customary courts or village chiefs to handle cases.16
There is a small NGO presence in South Sudan, with certain agencies offering services to those facing forced marriages and other forms of violence, but access to services is restricted due to the ongoing conflicts in country.
Special Challenges in Returning to the United States
South Sudan is currently experiencing internal armed conflict. Travel throughout the country is hindered by active conflict zones. Women traveling in South Sudan are particularly vulnerable to arbitrary detention and sexual violence.17 Please check the entry and exit requirements for South Sudan for the most up to date information.
- The Tahirih Justice Center Forced Marriage Initiative
We are available to help individuals from the United States who are facing or fleeing forced marriage in South Sudan, including providing phone, text, and email support, connecting with the U.S. government and local resources, and coordinating shelter and services back in the United States.
- The U.S. State Department
Due to a deteriorating security situation, the government of the United States has advised all citizens against traveling to South Sudan and has encouraged all U.S. Citizens residing in South Sudan to leave immediately. The U.S. Embassy drew down its personnel on January 3, 2014, and is thus only able to offer limited services. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is assisting those located in South Sudan who are in need of assistance. For updated information and travel alerts, please visit the department’s webpage on international travel in South Sudan. - U.S. Embassy Juba
Contact the embassy in the case of an emergency.
Tel: +211-955-456-050
Email: ACSJuba@state.gov
REFERENCES
1 Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Citizen Evacuation in South Sudan (2013), available at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/219057.htm.
2 Government of South Sudan, South Sudanese Society, available at http://www.goss-online.org (last visited Jan. 20, 2014); Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, Article 5; Sharanjeet Parmar, An Overview of the Sudanese Legal System and Legal Research, (2007), available at http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/sudan.htm (last visited Jan. 30, 2014).
3 Human Rights Watch Report on South Sudan, This Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him (2013), available at http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southSudan0313_forinsertWebVersion_0.pdf (last visited Jan. 30, 2014).
4 Sharanjeet Parmar, An Overview of the Sudanese Legal System and Legal Research (2007), available at http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/sudan.htm (last visited Jan. 30, 2014).
5 Human Rights Watch Report on South Sudan, This Man Can Feed Us, You Will Marry Him (2013), available at http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southSudan0313_forinsertWebVersion_0.pdf (last visited Jan. 30, 2014).
6 Id.
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 U.S. Department of State, South Sudan 2012 Human Rights Report, at 1, available at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2012/af/204169.htm (last visited Jan. 20, 2014); Marcy Hersh, For South Sudan’s Women, the War Hasn’t Ended, Globalpost (August 5, 2012), available at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (last visited Jan. 3, 2014).
10 Id.
11Smalls Arms Survey’s Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, Women’s Security and the Law in South Sudan (2012), available at (http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/facts-figures/south-sudan/womens-security/HSBA-women-security-law.pdf).
12 Id.
13 Marcy Hersh, For South Sudan’s Women, the War Hasn’t Ended, Globalpost (August 5, 2012), available at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (last visited Jan. 3, 2014); Smalls Arms Survey’s Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, Women’s Security and the Law in South Sudan (2012), available at (http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/facts-figures/south-sudan/womens-security/HSBA-women-security-law.pdf).
14 Charlton Doki, Half of Girls in South Sudan Forced to Marry (Mar. 8, 2013), available at http://news.yahoo.com/half-girls-south-sudan-forced-marry-140334618.html (last visited Jan. 23, 2014).
15 Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, Gender-Based Violence in Southern Sudan: Justice for Women Long Overdue, The Enough Project, available at http://www.enoughproject.org/files/Lowenstein%20Study%20-%20Sudan.pdf (last visited Jan. 7, 2014).
16 Marcy Hersh, For South Sudan’s Women, the War Hasn’t Ended, Globalpost (August 5, 2012), available at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (last visited Jan. 3, 2014).
17 Sudan: Women and Men Vulnerable in South Sudan’s Refugee Camps, IRIN (January 16, 2013), available at http://allafrica.com/stories/201301161374.html; Marcy Hersh, For South Sudan’s Women, the War Hasn’t Ended, Globalpost (August 5, 2012), available at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/africa/south-sudan-women-violence-assault (last visited Jan. 3, 2014).
