12 December 2014 - All media should improve reporting on sexual violence to help create accurate data and curb impunity for such crimes, a national human rights activist said in Juba today.

Edmund Yakani, executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said he was surprised to learn that many cases of sexual violence were treated as mere social issues addressed only at the community level.

Mr. Yakani was speaking at the closing session of a three-day training of journalists organized and funded by UNMISS, with support from CEPO and the UN Population Fund.

The training aimed to promote accurate and ethical reporting, he said. It followed a CEPO media review of 65 articles reporting rape cases, of which 54 were found to be lacking credible information.

Since crisis erupted in South Sudan on 15 December 2013, various reports encouraged CEPO to investigate.

Lack of accurate and reliable data about rape cases being reported from all parts of the country made it difficult for policymakers, decisions-makers and even fundraisers to act decisively, Mr. Yakani said.

“Sexual violence is an issue that exists in South Sudan,” said Oliver Modi, Chairman of Union of Journalists of South Sudan. “It is an issue that is real.”

“Sexual violence is a violation of human rights, because it goes against the person’s consent,” added Fatou Thiam, UNMISS’ Senior Women’s Protection Advisor.

Ms. Thiam said what one wore and the time at which the rape took place must not be used to justify such an offence.

“It is a result of a decision that has its origin in the perpetrator’s own heart,” she said. “Journalists in most cases end up victimizing the survivor instead of the perpetrator.”

Ms. Thiam cautioned journalists against writing articles out of context, because this could cause more harm, shame and stigma to the survivor.

Chaplain Duku, a Human Rights Officer working for South Sudan Human Rights Commission, said the environment coupled with diverse cultures dictated gender roles, putting women and girls at the backyard of their rights and required to perform all domestic chores without complaint.

He said huge gaps in legislation, weak institutional capacities and insufficient follow-up on matters of sexual and gender-based violence tended to promote the culture of impunity. Men seemed to assume their actions were justifiable, regardless of the cause.

Enhancing legislation and policies protecting human rights, strengthening national human rights advocacy institutions with oversight roles and providing sufficient space for civil society actors to speak out boldly would ensure a vibrant and proactive state of affairs in South Sudan, he said.

“All this means strengthening accountability institutions to try to prosecute and sentence all perpetrators of violence against women and girls,” he said.

Kaunda David, City FM Radio journalist said, “By this training, I have become one of the advocates in empowering women to break the culture of silence ... because women do play an important role in the development of the society.”

The training brought together 25 journalists, drawn from various media houses, including Eye and Bhakita radio stations as well as the Juba Monitor and The Citizen newspapers.