by Paola Moggi. South Sudan
Cultures are springs of life, but often they turn out to be also heavy burdens.
On one side, they cement community bonds and harmonise the contribution of each person to her or his society, on the other they can also become a subtle tool of oppression: the more subtle, the more violent. Education is considered the key to transform each culture; yet, when education is informed by Christian values it can really liberate those who are most oppressed.
November 25 marks the World Day to end Violence Against Women.
The UN has provided a Global Database on Violence against Women: it sheds light on many abuses and offers insights on legal provisions already in place to counter them, but many incidents will never be recorded in that database.
For South Sudan, for instance, there are not yet official national data, though the plight of women is self-evident and at times even appalling, especially in remote areas.
A Comboni missionary committed to the people
Araceli Avila Flores, Comboni Missionary Sister, has lived in South Sudan for 20 years. From Mexico, she reached a remote mission of the Diocese of Rumbek in 2004, when the Second Sudan Civil War was already progressing towards the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Decades of bombing and gunfire had starved the population, which was fed by food items dropped from the air-planes of Operation Lifeline Sudan. In Warrap State, among the Dinka, women would run to collect heavy sacks of sorghum and beans to carry them home, while men would look on.
When the war ended, women continued to struggle to feed their families, while men would sit in the market place to play games and drink tea. The sisters managed to help women become more aware of their own dignity, and a slow change started.
After Independence from the Sudan, on July 9 2011, South Sudan endured two other civil wars, with a heavy toll of dead and displaced people.
New mission and new commitments
In 2016, sr. Araceli arrived in Nyal, a town of Unity State: another mission and another ethnic group, the Nuer. However, the plight of women was the same: since a tender age, heavy burdens were on them, while adult men would sit in the market. That mission had been reopened after the destruction of the main Catholic mission of Leer two years earlier, and even there the sisters promoted the dignity of the women and helped them improve their living conditions. Unfortunately, at the end of 2021 the Comboni Sisters had to leave Nyal.
Still up to now, women are considered the “property of the husband”: they give birth, rear children, fetch water, prepare food, build huts and till the soil. If they fall sick, no cure without their men’s permission. Many women have no voice and file no complaint, because what they endure is simply “normal in their culture”.
In 2024, 52% of married women in South Sudan were wedded below 16 years of age, often in forced marriage.
Girls are the wealth of the family: even 400 heads of cattle can be paid as pride price for one of them, but in general the girl has no voice and no rights. Very few manage to complete primary school, let alone the secondary.
«Sisters, we need you! When will you come back?»
The presence of religious women makes the difference: just by being there, they can offer an alternative to the cultural norms which oppress local women. On top, they promote education, formal and informal, and awareness on women’s dignity and rights, so that the living conditions can also improve.
And wen religious sisters are supported by religious men, the transformative power of the Gospel can really shine.
On August 12 2024, after the installation of Bishop Christian Carlassare in the new Diocese of Bentiu, the women of Leer and Nyal asked the Comboni Sisters who had come for the celebration: «Sisters, we need you! When will you come back?».