South Sudan: Marital Rape Exemption

This paper explores marital rape in South Sudan by delving into the complex history of customary law in South Sudan and how it came about, as well as the precarious legal position that victims of marital rape find themselves in. The research maintains that the marital exemption clause in the laws of South Sudan should be abolished and, in its place, a law that penalizes rape within the institution of marriage should be enacted. The paper makes a significant contribution to the literature because the topic explored is relevant to the discussion of marital rape, not only in South Sudan, but also in other countries where similar problems persist. The paper does so by critically engaging with the issue of marital rape in South Sudan, explores its history, and proposes that changes must be made not only to the way in which the crime is defined but also how its punished. In conclusion the paper implores South Sudan’s decision makers to forge ways to criminalize marital rape but stops short of expressing with precision how the new changes should look like or how it should be done. Purposefully, the paper interrogates whether the validity of this archaic law is sustained by cultural imperative. Methodically, it does so by qualitatively analysing South Sudan’s statutory laws, traditional beliefs and cultures. The research findings conclude that while traditional cultures may have contributed to the repugnancy, its sustenance is the result of complex interplay between political and economic interests central to the governing elites. Finally, the paper maintains that times have changed dramatically and these interests, once viewed as necessary to ensure stability and perpetual governance, have long lost that value, and arguably, are detrimental to a democratic, inclusive state