The spokesperson said sexual violence was still a "new notion" in
South Sudan in spite of efforts by officials to create awareness on it.
Somali
refugees wait to see the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) Antonio Guterres at the Ifo camp in Dadaab near the
Kenya-Somalia border, May 8, 2015
The UN on Wednesday said that
the number of sexual violence victims in South Sudan in the aftermath of
the more than two years of civil war reached 32,000, excluding
death-related cases.
The Spokeswoman of the UN Mission in South Sudan, Ariane Quentier,
said in Juba that in spite of the various measures put in place to
mitigate the scale of sexual violence in the country, nothing would be
achieved unless victims were free to speak out and report to relevant
authorities.
She said ``we shall not be able to address sexual violence unless people who have been victimised speak out and report it.
``Several
UN reports on the South Sudan civil war have accused both former
warring parties the government troops (SPLA) and the rebels (SPLA-IO) of
raping women, girls and abducting children.''
Ariane
said that all parties, including SPLA, SPLA-IO and other local militia
groups affiliated to both parties committed sexual violence during
conflict.
The spokesperson said sexual violence
was still a "new notion" in South Sudan in spite of efforts by officials
to create awareness on it.
She added that most
cases were committed in the northern states of Jonglei, Unity and Upper
Nile, which had been hit hard by the brutal conflict.
``Accountability
is important. It's why we (UN) and other independent organisations are
documenting human rights violations," she said.
Ariane
added that the world body was currently involved in documenting
witnesses and had conducted workshops across the country to highlight
sexual violence effects.
Naweza Muderhwa,
the UNMISS Women Protection Officer, disclosed that more than 32,000
people have been victimised since conflict broke out in December 2013.
She added that such violence had been used as weapon of war to destabilise communities.
South
Sudan is recovering from the aftermath of the civil war, which ended by
the formation of a transitional unity government by former warring
parties in April.
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