Girls from four schools in Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State have had their awareness of the risks of sexual abuse raised by a group of visiting police officers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Sanitary pads were also handed out in a bid to help girls stay in school.

“The challenges associated with menstruation, and the lack of the sanitary products to deal with them, are a common cause for girls dropping out of schools prematurely. That is why we decided to embark on this small but important campaign,” says Joseph Akathuewera, one of the police officers participating in the four-day workshop on sexual gender-based violence and the rights of children.

Aluel Madut Atem, 16 years old and a student at Alok Primary School, was one of the beneficiaries, and it is safe to say she was pleased.

“I commended UNMISS for this generosity. I learnt a lot of important things about sexual abuse and the rights children. Children are to be taken care of, by their parents, not to be treated badly. Children should receive education, and that goes for girls as well,” she said.

The initiative of these dedicated UN police officers took place in conjunction with the commemoration of the global 16 Days of Activism against violence against women and girls.

Some 60 boys and girls participated in the event, which also contained advice on how to protect oneself against sexual exploitation, other forms of nonconsensual sex and harmful cultural practices such as forced and often early marriages.

“Any sexual advance without the consent of the person on the receiving end is sexual harassment and should not be tolerated,” stated Justin Alec Kwac, a 24-year-old male student.

Unfortunately, such behaviour often goes unpunished. Sexual gender-based violence remains alarmingly prevalent in Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal State, and that is believed to be due to an increase of incidents where women and girls are being forced to marry and have children.

“We have received reports of more early marriages taking place, probably due to the COVID-19 preventive measures put in place, which have kept many girls and women at home with their aggressors. We are currently sensitizing communities about gender-based violence and we hope that these numbers will drop as a result,” says Abour Gordon, a former Minister of Child Welfare and Social Development.

Students attending the workshop, who also received footballs and volleyballs for wholesome extracurricular activities, understood one of the most important messages conveyed by the visiting peacekeepers.

“We should report any suspicious cases of sexual gender-based violence or harassment to the police,” said Wol Ayoum, a boy with dreams of becoming a biochemist, while promising to lead by example by notifying the appropriate authorities about any disturbing actions he may observe.