People with disabilities are blamed for reporting GBV cases: Official

Author: Baria Johnson | Published: 29 minutes ago

Alfred Nimeri, Josephine Kiden and Precious Arkanjelo speak about the Zone72 Youth Program. (Photo: Awan Moses/Eye Radio)

According to an official, persons with disabilities in Juba face difficulties in accessing information and services on gender-based violence (GBV) and are accused of such abuses at police stations and hospitals, the spokesperson said.

Precious Arkanjelo, Deputy Secretary for Information of the Union of Persons with Disabilities in Central Equatoria, said persons with disabilities face challenges in reporting GBV to the police and accessing hospital services.

Ms Arkanjelo said that when a person with a disability reports an incident of GBV, he or she is ultimately questioned and blamed for the crimes committed against him or her.

“When we report a case, we face challenges at the police and even at the hospital,” she told Eye Radio’s Zone 72 Youth Program.

“Sometimes you want to report an incident that happened to you, but before you get help, they blame you and ask you why you are moving at this time.”

“You are a person with a disability, you are supposed to be inside, why do you come out? Because you have a disability, no one gives you as much attention as other people.”

She called for community awareness, training of health workers and transcription of GBV messages and information into Braille so that people with visual impairments can also access them.

“We need to raise awareness in the community, we need to train social workers and teachers to translate the information into Braille.”

Josephine Kiden Simon, Miss Deaf International, said the hearing-impaired minority group does not have access to information about gender-based violence without sign language interpreters.

She called for the use of sign language interpreters in the police, courts and other institutions.

“In our community, we as hearing impaired people face many challenges,” said Kiden.

“It’s a challenge for me to get information about GBV unless there’s a sign language interpreter. That will be easy for me. It’s also a challenge for hearing impaired people who haven’t been to school to get access to information about GBV.”

“It is important to have interpreters everywhere in the court, communities, international and national NGOs for easy communication.”

Alfred Nimeri, Finance Director of the Disability Forum Club, stressed the need to end the stigma against people with disabilities and report cases of GBV to the relevant authorities so that the victim can get justice.

“When a girl with a disability experiences GBV, her parents may say, ‘Let’s not report the problem, let’s leave it here,’ because it will be a great shame for the family.”

“The girl is not getting her way; the person should have been taken to the authorities, but now the community or the parents are keeping the matters quiet.”

People with special needs in South Sudan are at greater risk of sexual, emotional and physical violence.

In February 2023, President Salva Kiir signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) specifically addresses gender-based violence (GBV) in Article 16, which calls for measures to protect persons with disabilities from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including GBV.