Occasional Paper

Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement Viewed Through the Eyes of the Women of South Sudan

“This paper discusses the experiences of South Sudanese women in this new time of peace. By exploring women’s agency and victimisation during the war, the paper argues that the current celebrated liberation and peace, while it has been successful in transforming class identity, has failed to transform gender identity, allowing violations against women to continue unchecked. This paper challenges and questions the concepts of identity and
liberation in the current peace from a gendered perspective, and asks what the concepts ‘peace’, ‘identity’ and ‘liberation’ mean for women in contemporary South Sudan. The paper argues that the CPA has failed to play a role in improving the situation for women. It explores the way in which customary law, which is protected by the CPA, continues to perpetuate gender inequality.”