An activist protests against sexual assault on a little girl in Juba on May 15, 2020 | Credit | Priscah Akol/Eye Radio

The government of South Sudan has launched a helpline for reporting cases of gender-based violence.

Using the toll-free line 662, women will be able to report any cases of violence meted against them.

Dubbed Lulu Care, the facility was inaugurated on Thursday under the theme: “Talk about gender-based violence and protect life.”

This comes after UN reported increased cases of conflict-related sexual violence from 2018 to 2020.

Launched on Wednesday, the report documents 356 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape that took place between January 2018 and January 2020.

Besides, the World Health Organization, there has an increase in cases of gender-based violence since many countries announced a nationwide lockdown to fight COVID-19.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Gender, Child and Social welfare says gender-based violence is a critical matter that everyone must fight in South Sudan.

“I believe nobody is going to do it alone. Our responsibility as human being first and our responsibility as citizen also,”Aya Benjamin said.

The helpline is an initiative of Lulu Care, a women-led National NGO in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare.

For his part, the Spokesperson for NGO Forum, Mat Gai, stated that the call center “came at the right time”.

“We stand firm with the women of South Sudan – as being the young women – and they are the future and in terms of this, we encourage Lulu Care to actually build on the synergies they have with other NGOs,” Gai stressed.

The latest survivor of sexual vioelnce is an eight-year-old girl who was assaulted in Juba earlier this month, prompting women’s right activists to stage a peaceful protest, demanding justice for the little girl.

Pictorial: Women’s rights activists are today demanding justice for the 8-year-old girl who was gang raped at Gudele, Juba, recently | Credit | Priscah Akol/Eye Radio #SouthSudan pic.twitter.com/qwPptulwgo

— Eye Radio (@EyeRadioJuba) May 15, 2020