South Sudan: The Plight of South Sudanese Sexual Assault Survivors

Jul 10, 2019 | Osman Mohamed Osman, Aljazeera
View Original

Dadaab, Kenya - Teresa* (not her real name) gathers her three children outside her shanty, which was provided by aid agencies in Dadaab, a sprawling refugee camp in Kenya where she has lived for six years.The 33-year-old mother of three pulls out a plastic chair to sit on from a makeshift kitchen adjacent to her home. She picks up her youngest, a baby, and puts him on her lap.Eight years ago, she had been living in Juba when South Sudan gained independence on July 9, 2011, from Sudan."My family was still in a celebratory mood. We had gained independence … and every dream we had was shattered before my eyes," she said.Together with her husband, she was struggling to raise a young family until December 2013, when South Sudanese President Salva Kiir fell out with Riek Machar, then vice president.