UN to deploy team to review legislative laws on sexual violence in South Sudan

The United Nations secretariat on sexual violence in conflict will deploy a technical level mission team to expedite work on draft legislation on sexual violence, the General and Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence Pramila Pattern said on Thursday.

“I will be deploying a technical level mission team of experts and rule of law next month in order to expedite the work on draft legislation to address all gaps in terms of protection of victims of sexual violence,” Pattern told journalists after meeting Ruben Madol Arol the national minister of justice and constitutional affairs in Juba.

Pattern said the draft legislation is expected to cover different forms of conflict -related sexual violence ranging from rape to gang rape, sexual slavery, and abduction and trafficking.

She added that the legislation will also ensure that all victims of sexual violence have access to justice.

“We have discussed the importance of having comprehensive legislative framework to address conflict -related sexual violence from victims and witness protection legislation to legislation addressing the plight of children born of rape to reparation for victims of sexual violence,” she said.

Awow Gabriel, the undersecretary in the national ministry of justice and constitutional affairs, said sexual- related crime exists in the country, adding that the government is combating sexual related crimes.

“For sure South Sudan is a country in conflict and  such nature of crimes exist in the country, but the government and the people of South Sudan try their level best at least to prevent and eliminate and at the end to prosecute,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel said it is important for the government to harmonize and domesticate laws to the standard of the region and global level to combat conflict-related sexual crimes.