Many women in Yei town in South Sudan’s Yei River State are living in fear of being raped or killed while fetching water from water sources that are far away from their area.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, several women said they often go for long distances in order to get drinking water due to shortages of water in the area, a matter which could expose them to sexual abuses.

They pointed out that a young woman was raped by unknown men while fetching water in the area last month. The women called on the government and the warring parties to stop the ongoing conflict in order to alleviate women’s suffering.

Loice Abe, a resident at Lomuku area, said they are facing acute shortages of water in the area. “We have only one borehole for the whole area, if you want to fetch water early in the morning, you fine that some unknown men who come from nowhere are waiting to disorganize the women,” said Loice.

Meanwhile, Lily Modo, a local resident at Hai Simba area, said their only borehole is not functioning, forcing them to fetch water from running rivers and dirty wells.

“Our water is very dirty because we are fetching water from wells. There are no boreholes especially during this dry season, our borehole has broken down, so these are the challenges we are facing here,” she said.

Rose Galaka, a mother of six children residing at Dar-el Salam area, said they often wake up early in the morning to search for clean drinking water, which put them at risk of being raped or killed. “We don’t have enough water. We wake early in the morning to look for water and it is hard to get water,” she said.

She called on the government to look into the matter as soon as possible.

A senior official in charge of water services in Yei town had reported lack of funds to address the issue of water in the area.

File photo: Yei River/ Radio Tamazuj