Protection:
- Legal Aid/access to justice services
In South Sudan, women and girls’ often face greater barriers in accessing justice, including but not limited to a lack of locally available police or formal courts; low awareness of laws and rights, the high cost of legal representation, long periods of trials, corruption, lack of trust in the legal system, delays in gathering evidence by police or health providers or poor documentation of evidence, gaps in the legal framework, impunity for perpetrators, and lack of sensitivity or active bias from justice actors etc. Reporting incidence of sexual violence for instance also carries stigma that includes fear of retribution by the perpetrator and/or his family, fear of being ostracized by one’s own family, or fear of being blamed for the attack. The lack of a functional formal judicial system and rule of law coupled with lack of specific law to protect women and girls are linked to delays in enactment of anti-GBV and Family Law Bills, lack of domestication and implementation of Maputo Protocol and other regional instruments that South Sudan has ratified. This often means that the likelihood of the legal redress in favor of the survivor/victim is extremely low. In addition, when women and girls do not find suitable avenues to address their issues including lack of mechanisms to protect witnesses and long periods of trials, they shy away from reporting.
GVO address the critical gaps in the provision of legal assistance to women and girls by offering specialized legal assistance through information, counselling services, emergency support and legal representation where women and girls will be able to know and claim their