By Jino Wilson
Women in Budi County, Eastern Equatoria State, are making strides in addressing gender-based violence by constructing a dedicated women and girls-friendly office space.
This center will provide a safe and inclusive environment for women to discuss issues such as girls’ blood compensation and other forms of gender-based violence that affect their communities and households.
The request to construct friendly space has been raised in several women’s informal forums
The initiative, driven by the collective efforts of local women, is being implemented by Root of Generations ROG) with the support of SaferWorld and Women for Women International.
The facility aims to provide a safe space for women and girls, offer counseling and support services for victims of gender-based violence, Host skills development programs to empower women economically and socially; and serve as a hub for community dialogues on issues affecting women and girls in Budi County.
Mary Iwaa Hillary while speaking to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspapers expressed her joy in the construction of women and girls-friendly office space.
She said the under-construction office block is going to be their parliament to discuss issues about women’s rights.
“This is going to be our parliament, our parliament to discuss our issues related to blood compensation, forced marriages, and other related issues. We used to have challenges in reporting our issues that happened in our household and we died silently but with this construction, am so happy that our problems will be channeled to this office” Mary Hillary explained.
Women have hope that once the office is completed, the office space will enable women to come together, discuss, and raise issues affecting them in the community.
Magdalena Dudu who is a mentor at Root of Generations stressed that the under-construction office space will be used to keep all records of GBV cases including girls’ blood compensation and other related GBV cases.
According to her, women who fall victim to GBV in the area always commit suicide because of the lack of such a facility, adding that the office will provide counseling to women in case of domestic violence.
“When the women’s office is completed, we will keep all the documents for recording GBV cases,” she said.
Dudu further decried actions taken against women in the community and said the only way to narrow or avert GBV cases in Budi County is to have an office space for women to come together and discuss their rights.
According to her, women have been suffering in silence due to the lack of a center to report their issues related to blood compensation and other related Gender Base Violence issues.
“We are experiencing many problems of suicidal cases in the Community and all these are attributed to a lack of women and girls friendly space to report their problems and get services like counselling,” she noted.
During the launch of the Women & Girls-friendly space on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, women expressed their gratitude, explaining that the absence of such a facility has severely hindered their ability to report and address issues like girls’ blood compensation and gender-based violence.
They view this space as a significant milestone, enabling them to collectively discuss and find solutions to these pressing problems.
They acknowledged the efforts of the implementing partner, Root of Generations, in realizing this long-awaited dream.
On her part, Achiro Night Lokoro highlighted numerous challenges women faced in the community citing girls’ blood compensation, forced Marriages including domestic violence.
She said many women in the community go salience due to the lack of women and girls-friendly spaces to handle their issues.
“We used to face challenges as our many girls are paid for blood compensation and other related GBV issues in the community. Thanks to ROG for making our voices heard,” Achiro observed.
The office block consists of 1 big hall, 1 office block, & 1 store room and is expected to be completed in early January 2025, according to the engineer at a construction site.