JONGLEI – “I don’t want to return home. It will only remind me of what we have been through.”
Nyakim’s * tragedy began with her husband being killed and her home being burnt down when armed actors attacked her village in northern Jonglei last month.
But it didn’t stop there: she and her seven children were abducted by the perpetrators, alongside 22 other women and children. What followed can only be described as a seemingly never-ending nightmare.
Each abducted woman was taken to one of the men’s family homes and forced to be their new wife.
For weeks, they had to endure sexual violence, abuse and humiliation.
Matters took a turn for the better when a concerned community member spotted them and alerted the respective County Commissioner who, in turn, informed the state Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare.
“I had already given up. I thought my life would be filled with constant abuse and pain,” shares one of the other women, Nour*.
It took weeks of intensive negotiations with the abductors by state authorities, with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), before these women and children were finally released and escorted to Bor.
However, even this journey to safety was fraught with difficulties. Nour, for example, was forced to deliver her baby in the truck which was taking them to Bor from Yuai. “We didn’t have clothes or any medical assistance. We only had each other,” she recalls.
Today, the new mother and her baby boy are being sheltered at the Special Protection Unit (SPU), a branch of South Sudan National Police Service, in Bor. With other survivors by her side, Nour spends her days taking care of the children and trying to process what happened to her.
“I’m still in pain from the delivery and have this numb feeling. I cannot even think about tomorrow,” she explains.
In the past days, they have received humanitarian assistance and psychosocial support, but their trauma is fresh and deep-rooted.
“These women have been through so much. Once we knew that they were reaching us, we contacted humanitarian partners to arrange for additional accommodation and medical services. It’s our duty to support them during their recovery,” says SPU Director Philip Kuei Magot.
Like most others with her, Nyakim says the future seems uncertain. “I might return to selling tea. But I need time to heal physically and mentally.”
Susan Sesay, a Gender Affairs Officer with UNMISS, agrees that time and support are key.
“We are relieved that these women and children are finally in a safe space. It will take them time to heal and rebuild their lives. Physical safety is only the first step towards a semblance of normalcy. But we are all here to help them to the best of our abilities,” she states.
By Jaella Brockmann
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
