Forced Marriages in South Sudan

Forced marriage in the country came under the spotlight recently   after a 19-year-old girl was arrested for refusing an arranged marriage.  A customary court sentenced the girl to a three-month jail term for refusing to marry a man chosen by her family.  Although the teenager was freed from the Wau Juvenile Detention Center in Western Barh el Ghazal state, after the intervention of the state ministry of gender – her arrests raise many questions around what the girl’s crime was and many more that Hon Dr. Margaret Joel Baranaba – Deputy Chairperson (South Sudan Parliamentary Network for Population and Development will answer.