Can technology help more survivors of sexual assault in South Sudan?

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — After being gang-raped by armed men while collecting firewood, the 28-year-old tried in vain to get help. Some clinics were closed, others told her to return later and she had no money to access a hospital.

Five months after the assault, she lay on a mat in a displacement camp in South Sudan's capital, rubbing her swollen belly. “I felt like I wasn't heard ... and now I'm pregnant,” she said. The Associated Press does not identify people who have been raped.

Sexual assault is a constant risk for many women in South Sudan. Now one aid group is trying to bridge the gap with technology, to find and help survivors more quickly. But it's not easy in a country with low connectivity, high illiteracy and wariness about how information is used.

Five months ago, an Israel-based organization in South Sudan piloted a chatbot it created on WhatsApp. It prompts questions for its staff to ask survivors of sexual assault to anonymously share their experiences. The information is put into the phone while speaking to the person and the bot immediately notifies a social worker there's a case, providing help to the person within hours.

IsraAID said the technology improves communication. Papers can get misplaced and information can go missing, said Rodah Nyaduel, a psychologist with the group. When colleagues document an incident, she's notified by phone and told what type of case it is.

Tech experts said technology can reduce human error and manual file keeping, but organizations need to ensure data privacy.

“How do they intend to utilize that information, does it get circulated to law enforcement, does that information cross borders. Groups need to do certain things to guarantee how to safeguard that information and demonstrate that,” said Gerardo Rodriguez Phillip, an AI and technology innovation consultant in Britain.

IsraAID said its data is encrypted and anonymized. It automatically deletes from staffers' phones. In the chatbot's first three months in late 2024, it was used to report 135 cases.

When the 28-year-old was raped, she knew she had just a few days to take medicine to help prevent disease and pregnancy, she said.

One aid group she approached scribbled her information on a piece of paper and told her to return later to speak with a social worker. When she did, they said they were busy. After 72 hours, she assumed it was pointless. Weeks later, she found she was pregnant.

IsraAID found her while doing door-to-door visits in her area. At first, she was afraid to let them put her information into their phone, worried it would be broadcast on social media. But she felt more comfortable knowing the phones were not personal devices, thinking she could hold the organization accountable if there were problems.

She's one of tens of thousands of people still living in displacement sites in the capital, Juba, despite a peace deal ending civil war in 2018. Some are afraid to leave or have no homes to return to.

The fear of rape remains for women who leave the camps for firewood or other needs. Some told the AP about being sexually assaulted. They said there are few services in the camp because of reduced assistance by international aid groups and scant government investment in health. Many can't afford taxis to a hospital in town.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to freeze USAID funding during a 90-day review period is exacerbating the challenges. Aid groups have closed some services including psychological support for women, affecting tens of thousands of people.

Technology isn't widely used by aid groups focused on gender-based violence in South Sudan. Some organizations say that, based on survivors' feedback, the ideal app would allow people to get help remotely.

Stigma surrounding sexual assault further complicates efforts to get help in South Sudan. It’s especially hard for young girls who need to get permission to leave their homes, said Mercy Lwambi, gender-based violence lead at the International Rescue Committee.

"They want to talk to someone faster than a physical meeting,” she said.

But South Sudan has one of the lowest rates of mobile access and connectivity in the world, with less than 25% of market penetration, according to a report by GSMA, a global network of mobile operators. People with phones don't always have internet access, and many are illiterate.

"You have to be thinking, will this work in a low-tech environment? What are the literacy rates? Do they have access to devices? If so, what kind? Will they find it engaging, will they trust it, is it safe?” said Kirsten Pontalti, a senior associate at Proteknon Foundation for Innovation and Learning, an international organization focused on advancing child protection.

Pontalti has piloted two chatbots, one to help youth and parents better access information about sexual reproductive health and the other for frontline workers focused on child protection during COVID.

She said technology focused on reporting abuse should include an audio component for people with low literacy and be as low-tech as possible.

Some survivors of sexual assault say they just want to be heard, whether by phone or in person.

One 45-year-old man, a father of 11, said it took years to seek help after being raped by his wife after he refused to have sex and said he didn't want more children they couldn't afford to support.

It took multiple visits by aid workers to his displacement site in Juba before he felt comfortable speaking out.

“Organizations need to engage more with the community,” he said. “If they hadn't shown up, I wouldn't have come in."

___

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.