The UN effort to eradicate sexual violence committed during wartime has welcomed the release of 78 women and 50 children by an armed group in South Sudan. These women and children were amongst over 500 abducted between April and August 2018 and subjected to sexual slavery and forced marriage. They have been held in military bases by pro-Riek Machar, Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO RM) in the Western Equatorial region of South Sudan. Now they are being supported by the United Nations and its civil society partners and referred to medical and psychosocial support structures. The plight of these women and children, many of whom were reportedly subjected to systematic and brutal forms of conflict-related sexual violence is the story of thousands of women and children who have become victims of conflict situations in many countries like Nigeria, Mali, Iraq, Somalia, Liberia, Burkina Faso, DRC, etc.
SOURCE: VENTURES AFRICA