“Honour Culture” and Rape Denialism in the Southern Sudanese Culture: A Prospective Response from Ubuntu and Restorative Justice

Denialism over rape cases deprives survivors of their human rightsHuman rights and dignity. The South Sudanese’s “honour cultureHonour culture” is aimed at protecting the reputation of local communities affected by rape incidenceRape incidence, and hiding the evils that may tarnish the goodGoods image of the South Sudanese society. At the same time, the lack of acknowledgement of the suffering caused by such violence against women throws rape survivorsRape survivors into a condition of perpetual victimisation and denies them justice. In this chapter, an examination is conducted on the conventional notion of honour cultureHonour culture linked to rape. The focus is on the attitudes of survivors and local individuals regarding the root causes of honour cultureHonour culture in relation to rape cases. It is noted that the silencing of victims and their lack of access to public justiceJustice exacerbate this issue. The public adjudication of sexual violenceViolence cases would garner significant attention, which goes against the principles of honour culture that the South Sudanese Society seeks to protect. These perspectives emerged from in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with 36 participants, including political leaders, traditional leaders, women leaders, among whom were rape survivorsRape survivors and international NGO leaders. Thematic and content analytical methods were employed to examine and interpret the data set. It emerged from this study that the predicament of criminal justiceCriminal justice that perpetuates rape injustices via honour cultureHonour culture preservation can be overcome by using the ubuntu restorative justiceUbuntu Restorative Justice (URJ) practice which promotes dialogue, acknowledgement of guilt, empathy, repair of harm and human rights violation in view of restoring justice and human dignity. URJ prevents retaliation, encourages forgiveness and empowerment of victims – giving them a voice and addressing their violated rights and facilitating restoration after their ordeals in wartime.