Nearly 800 GBV cases, mostly defilement, reported at Juba Teaching Hospital

2026-03-27 - 10:44

At least 790 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were registered at the Juba Teaching Hospital One-Stop Center between July and December 2025, according to a legal officer at the facility Advocate Christina Yacob, a legal officer who joined the center in July, revealed the figures during a stakeholder engagement on the gender analysis of draft legislation. She reported a sharp rise in reported incidents, specifically highlighting a disturbing trend of perpetrators targeting children. “We received almost 790 cases of GBV from July up to December last year, and the most cases are rape cases,” Yacob stated. “The increase of the rape cases, especially of kids—even boys from the age of 5, 6, 7, and 8, also to girls at this age—is raising an alarm that now the perpetrators are targeting the kids.” While Yacob attributed the increase in reports to improved community awareness, she noted that the data reveal a painful reality regarding those responsible. “What came to my mind, of course, is the awareness that we have raised to the communities; now they know how to report if a girl is raped,” she explained. “Most of the perpetrators are either neighbours, relatives within the family, or people who are renting or living with us within the house—even men in uniform.” The legal officer identified specific “hotspots” for these crimes, naming Gumbo-Sherika, Gudele, and Gurei as areas of great concern. In Gurei, Yacob alleged that some perpetrators are security personnel deployed to the area, citing direct evidence from those seeking help at the clinic. “In Gurei, there is the police, the people who are deployed there. They are the ones committing this. I am saying this with evidence—the survivors who reported that. Those people are the ones raping them,” Yacob alleged. The revelations have renewed urgent calls for stronger protection measures, increased accountability, and comprehensive legal reforms to address GBV and safeguard vulnerable populations, particularly children.