South Sudanese woman drops out of school after her parents forced her to marry a man

South Sudan has the seventh highest prevalence rate of child marriage in the world, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Photo: UNICEF/HRW/File

Juba, February 16, 2019 (SSNA) — A South Sudan young woman was forced to drop out of school and went into hiding after her parents forced her to marry a man nearly twice her age, the VOA reports.

The report says a woman who goes by the name Akuac Ring Ariik, a 20-year old, briefly met a man called Akok Koch met in 2017. The man then asked Akuach to be his girlfriend. The woman refused.

After she declined Akok proposal, the man then secretly approached the woman’s parents and proposed to them that he wanted to marry their daughter. Akuach says she was stunned after her parents demanded that he dropped out of school and that she Akok will be her husband. She describes the ordeal as “destructive” after she went into hiding.

“It is so destructive because now I am a school dropout, I am on a hide, there’s nothing like success anymore. My life is at risk, everything, my life, my education. My future is just at risk,” Akuach was quoted by the VOA as saying.

Forced marriage is still a common practice in South Sudan. Traditional, local, and national leaders began raising awareness about why it is important to ban forced marriage. It is documented by numerous child rights groups that many young girls are forced by their parents to get married only to end up without a good future due to lack of education.

South Sudan has the seventh highest prevalence rate of child marriage in the world, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

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3 Comments. Leave new

  • Compromising the right of one’s daughter is also a crime. Let’s give our daughters and/or sisters a right to education for a happy life and better future. It’s a must be done now iniative.

    Reply
  • Abraham Ateek Chol
    February 20, 2019 1:16 am

    How can she lies to the world about this yet she was the one who sneaked away with a man whom she believed as her boyfriend with the intention of leaving the school.
    For those who don’t know the cause of all these he/she would believe that it’s true and it’s not, her intention is she don’t want to learn, she don’t want to finish her tertiary education because of this man called Kuc mayur. family members have been consistently advising her to focus on her studies instead of having a man at early age but she couldn’t listen and when she realised she couldn’t make it while family members are against her will she started accusing them of being against her right and that she will not be stop by anyone. She has been telling the family that she will use any means to get away from them and that is what she is doing now.
    Her most preference place is to go abroad “western countries”where she will enjoy life with her boyfriend, because her boyfriend is not able to provides basic needs for her here in Africa and also he is not able to take her up to the UK where he is study at the moment, so they created this story inorder the world “UN” will understand them and take care of them that’s their plan as we speaks.

    Reply
  • Giei Chadhal Giei
    July 1, 2019 9:56 am

    Learning is better than low consecure of marry.
    in human rights articles of social welfare and genders valence lives,give right to women

    Reply

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