A United Nations human rights team says rape cases are now so frequent in South Sudan that many women choose not to bother reporting frequent sexual assaults.
Even those who have been gang-raped repeatedly during the country’s prolonged conflict lack access to medical and trauma care.
Some women have been raped up to five times in the last nine years, the panel said.
“Just imagine what it means to be raped by multiple armed men, pick yourself up for the sake of your children, and then for it to happen again and again and again,” said Yasmin Sooka, the chairperson of the panel.
She added: “These women are asking us when it will stop – 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021, and now in 2022 – they say they keep telling their stories and nothing changes.”
In several villages in Western Equatoria State and Unity State – where fighting is ongoing – there is no medical care for rape victims, the panel said.
“Women raped by armed forces while collecting firewood are threatened with death if they report it,” said Prof Andrew Clapham, a member of the panel.
The experts have been participating in meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York to speak about the situation in South Sudan.