Jailers in a remote area of Western Equatoria State, South Sudan, are holding women in the same cell as men due to a lack of detention facilities, residents revealed, raising concerns over safety and potential abuses.
In Gangura Payam, located several kilometers from the state capital Yambio, police operate under trees without a formal station. Suspects are detained in a single small room built by locals, leaving no space to separate men and women.
Residents told Radio Tamazuj that the absence of detention facilities forces women to share cells with male detainees, a practice they say endangers their safety and dignity.
“When a woman is detained with men in the same room, we don’t know what could happen at night. It’s unsafe and unacceptable,” said Gaaniko Elia, a youth leader in Gangura.
He did not confirm whether abuses had already occurred under this arrangement.
Local officials acknowledged the severe lack of infrastructure in the area.
“Even we, the payam leaders, have no offices—we work under trees,” said Simon Atoroba, executive chief of Gangura.
Moses Mungua Daniel, Gangura’s payam administrator, said the area—despite its strategic importance as a border zone—has only one makeshift detention room.
“We are a large payam with nine bomas and an international border point, yet we have no official police station,” he said.
James Severino, an official from Western Equatoria’s Ministry of Local Government and Law Enforcement, condemned the shared cell arrangement.
“Detaining women with men in the same cell is a crime. What if it were your wife or daughter? This practice must end,” he said, pledging to raise the issue with state authorities and partners to find a solution.
The practice violates South Sudan’s Criminal Procedure Code and Prisons Act, which require gender-segregated detention and mandate female officers for women’s arrests.
Rights activists alarmed
Odetta Miwai, a women’s rights activist in Western Equatoria, warned that mixing detainees exposes women to harassment or assault.
“Women should be detained separately, with female officers present during arrest and interrogation,” she said, adding that juveniles must also be held apart from adults.
South Sudanese law explicitly requires separate facilities for female prisoners to ensure their safety and proper care.