The Western Equatoria State Minister of Gender, Child and Social, Anigunde Cicilia, raised concerns over rising trend where men impregnate women living disabilities before abandoning them with the responsibilities of raising the children.
Cicilia condemned the men who have abdicated their responsibilities leaving the women to suffer by as they try to fend for the children.
“We have registered about 12 cases in 2022 of women with disabilities who were impregnated and their husbands denied the responsibility,” Cicilia said.
She however said they were yet to get the statistics from the authorities in the counties for this year.
She said the state government has started receiving files of women with disabilities and plan is in to help them.
According to Cicilia, about 80 per cent of women in the state do not know their rights.
“Most of the women even owning their own land previously have people who came and grabbed it from them.”
She said her ministry is working hard to train the communities on the rights of women to own land and any other properties.
“In our report to the government of the state, we already have the report (land grabbing from women) and we need to sit together with partners to organize a training whereby most of the youth leaders, the community leaders, the women leaders can be trained to identify the issues and present at the right place,” said Cicilia.
She also echoed the need for a proper judiciary system in the state that can handle gender-based violence.
“We are working hard to cooperate with the judiciary on how those mobile courts come to our state monthly so that most of these cases to do with gender issues can be solved amicably.”
“We are supporting the women groups in the 10 counties so that they identify all these cases (land grabbing) and report to the headquarters.
On February 24, 2023, South Sudan took a historic step forward for disability inclusion by signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD has a legal duty to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of people with disabilities in South Sudan.
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