A women-led organization in the Jonglei State capital, Bor town, has vowed to eradicate sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) among the locals there.

The commitment by the non-governmental organization, Child Bride Solidarity (CBS), was made at the end of a two-day GBV workshop attended by women leaders, youth, and female students in Bor on Friday.

Maria Atong Atem, the group’s monitoring and evaluation officer told Radio Tamazuj that the rampant violence against women and children will be eradicated by empowering the locals on human rights so that they will be to make informed decisions in the community. 

“As an organization, we are bringing together influential community leaders, youth, and even the girls who are victims of GBV on the rights of girls and dangers of GBV,” she said. “We are doing this by campaigns inform of workshops and radio talk shows with traditional chiefs at the end of a month.”

The activist pointed out that GBV is a human rights violation and called on the locals to report all forms of abuse against women in the community.

Rhoda Athou Jongkuc, a female traditional chief in Bor, said: “We used to force our girls to married at a young age but there are problems like how to carter for the family, and during childbirth, she might develop complications. “

The women leader said there is a rise in GBV due to women's rights.

For his part, Majak Daniel Tuor, the state police spokesperson, urged the Bor residents to cooperate with the police by reporting GBV saying they are committed to ending the vice.

“We have a unit called Sexual Protection Unit (SPU) for handling all the cases of GBV. Our personnel is well trained,” Majak said. “They handle cases with care and privacy. So, I encourage all the people to report any cases.”