Teachers warned against girlchild sexual abuse

The Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi has warned the teachers across the country against sexually abusing school girls. 

Abdelbagi directed all school administrations to implement the law on sexual abuse and harassment to create a safe learning environment for the girl child.

The VP warned that any teacher who sexually abuses a schoolgirl must be apprehended and dismissed from teaching immediately.

Abdelbagi added that there were reports that some teachers in remote schools abuse young girls.

 “Any teacher found involved in sexual relationships [with girls] in any school will be dismissed from the work immediately,” he said.

The vice president made the statement on Monday during the launch of “Safe School Declaration Guidelines’’. 

“If you want to practice this kind of activity (sexual abuses) the just know that you are going to be punished because sexual harassment is illegal in South Sudan,” he added.

Warning shot

He also warned the tutors against extorting learners under the name of giving them lessons. 

 “I know in South Sudan the education is free but there are some people who get money from pupils [illegally],” Abdelbagi said. 

In 2016, a teacher in Yei town was sentenced to a three-year jail term after he sexually abused a schoolgirl. 

Following the increase in cases of illicit sexual relationships with schoolgirls, South Sudanese women lawyers appealed to the government to establish special courts in the states to address the rampant cases of sexual abuse.

The last month’s call came after the Special Court in Juba registered over 2,000 cases of rape and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in 2021 alone.

The Federation of Women Lawyers of South Sudan said an estimated 15 per cent of the women and young girls have fallen victims to rape and 45 per cent have suffered physical sexual violence. The women said most cases of rape and GBV have not been reported.

Jackeline Nasiwa, a representative of South Sudan female lawyers, said there is a need for the government to establish special courts in some big towns in the states arguing the move would help try the criminals who prey on vulnerable women and young girls 

Ms Nasiwa said there has been an ineffective reporting and investigation on victims of rape, defilement, and physical violence.

Saddening incidents

She said 2,403 rape and defilement cases and 2,140 GBV cases were reported in the Special Court in Juba alone according to data collected by the Federation of Women Lawyers of South Sudan.

Recently, the United Nations Security Council Committee on South Sudan urged the government to implement the peace agreement so that the children and vulnerable women are protected.

The Committee said children in South Sudan still face many challenges following the conflicts in some parts of the country.

The Chairperson of the United Nations Security Committee on South Sudan, who also serves as the representative to United Nations Security Council for Viet Nam Amb. Dang Dinh Quy, said the concerned parties to the agreement should ensure that children get access to education food and healthcare.