The 16 Days of Activism campaign aligned with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, is observed from the 25th of November until the 10th of December as an effort to raise awareness of the negative impact that violence has on women, girls and society.  Members of the state government, the UNMISS and other Gender Based Violence (GBV) actors attended a ceremony launching the initiative at the State Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Gender and Social Development.

A representative of the GBV cluster, Ms. Mary Mathon, decried the pain and anguish women and children are subjected to and urged the voiceless victims to break their silence.

“Our women and children everyday face undignified sufferings. They are victims of some harmful cultural practices. For instance if a woman is raped, the society urges people not to bring the matter before courts of law for fear of damaging her reputation. I therefore, urge women to speak up against this unruly behavior,” Mathon stressed.

The Western Lakes Deputy Governor, Ms. Louis Agum Ruben, then echoed the government’s efforts towards closing the gender gap by citing legal frameworks.

“Our constitution has earmarked 25% affirmative action for women participation in public square; also the ruling party basic documents recently raised the same to 35%. For us women to qualify for these percentages, we must to go to learn. Education is power,” Agum stated.

This year’s campaign is being held under the theme “From peace in the home to peace in South Sudan.” The campaign aims to provide a platform to engage all stakeholders across gender, age and other divides to commit to collectively fight this scourge in society and to take a long and hard look at the available strategies to end violence against women and girls.