JUBA, South Sudan — After being gang-raped by armed males whereas gathering firewood, the 28-year-old tried in useless to get assist. Some clinics have been closed, others advised her to return later and she or he had no cash to entry a hospital.
5 months after the assault, she lay on a mat in a displacement camp in South Sudan’s capital, rubbing her swollen stomach. “I felt like I wasn’t heard … and now I am pregnant,” she stated. The Related Press doesn’t determine individuals who have been raped.
Sexual assault is a continuing threat for a lot of ladies in South Sudan. Now one assist group is making an attempt to bridge the hole with expertise, to search out and assist survivors extra shortly. However it’s not straightforward in a rustic with low connectivity, excessive illiteracy and wariness about how data is used.
5 months in the past, an Israel-based group in South Sudan piloted a chatbot it created on WhatsApp. It prompts questions for its employees to ask survivors of sexual assault to anonymously share their experiences. The knowledge is put into the cellphone whereas chatting with the particular person and the bot instantly notifies a social employee there is a case, offering assist to the particular person inside hours.
IsraAID stated the expertise improves communication. Papers can get misplaced and knowledge can go lacking, stated Rodah Nyaduel, a psychologist with the group. When colleagues doc an incident, she’s notified by cellphone and advised what sort of case it’s.
Tech specialists stated expertise can scale back human error and handbook file preserving, however organizations want to make sure knowledge privateness.
“How do they intend to make the most of that data, does it get circulated to regulation enforcement, does that data cross borders. Teams must do sure issues to ensure how you can safeguard that data and display that,” stated Gerardo Rodriguez Phillip, an AI and expertise innovation advisor in Britain.
Normal view of the tents in Juba displacement camp, South Sudan, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Credit score: AP/Brian Inganga
IsraAID stated its knowledge is encrypted and anonymized. It mechanically deletes from staffers’ telephones. Within the chatbot’s first three months in late 2024, it was used to report 135 instances.
When the 28-year-old was raped, she knew she had just some days to take drugs to assist forestall illness and being pregnant, she stated.
One assist group she approached scribbled her data on a chunk of paper and advised her to return later to talk with a social employee. When she did, they stated they have been busy. After 72 hours, she assumed it was pointless. Weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant.
IsraAID discovered her whereas doing door-to-door visits in her space. At first, she was afraid to allow them to put her data into their cellphone, anxious it could be broadcast on social media. However she felt extra snug figuring out the telephones weren’t private units, considering she might maintain the group accountable if there have been issues.
Ladies stroll within the Juba displacement camp, South Sudan, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Credit score: AP/Brian Inganga
She’s one among tens of 1000’s of individuals nonetheless residing in displacement websites within the capital, Juba, regardless of a peace deal ending civil struggle in 2018. Some are afraid to depart or haven’t any properties to return to.
The concern of rape stays for girls who depart the camps for firewood or different wants. Some advised the AP about being sexually assaulted. They stated there are few companies within the camp due to decreased help by worldwide assist teams and scant authorities funding in well being. Many cannot afford taxis to a hospital on the town.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s current govt order to freeze USAID funding throughout a 90-day overview interval is exacerbating the challenges. Help teams have closed some companies together with psychological assist for girls, affecting tens of 1000’s of individuals.
Expertise is not broadly utilized by assist teams centered on gender-based violence in South Sudan. Some organizations say that, primarily based on survivors’ suggestions, the best app would permit folks to get assist remotely.
Stigma surrounding sexual assault additional complicates efforts to get assist in South Sudan. It’s particularly onerous for younger women who must get permission to depart their properties, stated Mercy Lwambi, gender-based violence lead on the Worldwide Rescue Committee.
“They wish to speak to somebody quicker than a bodily assembly,” she stated.
However South Sudan has one of many lowest charges of cellular entry and connectivity on the planet, with lower than 25% of market penetration, in line with a report by GSMA, a worldwide community of cellular operators. Folks with telephones do not at all times have web entry, and lots of are illiterate.
“You must be considering, will this work in a low-tech atmosphere? What are the literacy charges? Have they got entry to units? If that’s the case, what sort? Will they discover it participating, will they belief it, is it secure?” stated Kirsten Pontalti, a senior affiliate at Proteknon Basis for Innovation and Studying, a world group centered on advancing baby safety.
Pontalti has piloted two chatbots, one to assist youth and fogeys higher entry details about sexual reproductive well being and the opposite for frontline employees centered on baby safety throughout COVID.
She stated expertise centered on reporting abuse ought to embrace an audio part for folks with low literacy and be as low-tech as attainable.
Some survivors of sexual assault say they simply wish to be heard, whether or not by cellphone or in particular person.
One 45-year-old man, a father of 11, stated it took years to hunt assist after being raped by his spouse after he refused to have intercourse and stated he did not need extra youngsters they could not afford to assist.
It took a number of visits by assist employees to his displacement website in Juba earlier than he felt snug talking out.
“Organizations want to have interaction extra with the neighborhood,” he stated. “In the event that they hadn’t proven up, I would not have are available in.”
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