By Bida Elly David
South Sudan Chief Justice said that they have laid a strategy to extend gender-based violence court to other areas in the country aimed at fighting against gender related issues and impose punitive measures on any instigator through the law.
This came following the launch of the country’s Judiciary Reform Committee in Juba and how it could be transfigured or set to fit a legal purpose.
Recently, a piled report from a legal research carried by the African Centre on Studies indicates that South Sudan war has jeopardized most legal institutions and the legal system nationwide.
The 2018-2019 report stated the crawling of the country through militarization of many private lives making the constitution to be weak in structure and implementation.
Speaking during the event yesterday, Chan Reech Madut, the country’s Chief Justice said the extension of the Gender-based violence (GBV) court to other areas is going to occur for the first time after it was established.
South Sudan has so far been battling gender-based violence cases where both gender in various communities have been disregarding and underestimating themselves in the aspects of resource ownership and finances.
Recently, reports have showed that violence against women and girls has been one of the common practices in South Sudan driven from traditional and cultural aspects of view where women are deprived from standing for their rights in regards to controlling finances among many others.
The Chief Justice said the strategy will help in resolving issues related to gender.
“We have introduced gender-based violence court which was not there before. This court has been recognized internationally as a wonderful court to address issues concerning gender. The court is based in Juba but if condition permits, we are going to extend it beyond because gender-based violence problems are everywhere’’ Justice Chan said
He stated that the gender-based court since its establishment has so far found over one hundred (100) men guilty and imposed imprisonment as a punitive measure to their act.
He cited men being sent to prison derived from various gravities of gender based issues against women and girls.
“Since we established the gender-based violence court in 2020, we have so far tried 100 men over committing sexual crimes and penalize them with imprisonment until they meet their deadline’’ He noted
Justice Chan finally urged people to obey the being the principles that will help them in safeguarding their actions against opposite sex.