Ethnically-Charged Wartime Sexual Violence: The Agony of the South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda

Abstract

Since the outbreak of civil war in South Sudan in December 2013, thousands of South Sudanese have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation, castration, and forced nudity. The outrageous and brutal sexual violence has resulted in undesirable physical, psychological, and social impacts on the survivors, who are largely living in refugee settlements in the West Nile region of Uganda. This paper provides a critical understanding of the disturbing narratives and experiences of the survivors of the ethnically-charged sexual attacks in the ongoing civil war in South Sudan. It examines how extreme acts of sexual violence were part of a strategy to terrorise, degrade, shame and humiliate both the victims and their ethnic or political group. This paper also examines the impacts of the horrendous sexual violence on the survivors, their families and society, and provides policy recommendations to address the wartime sexual violence.