This policy brief examines sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Unity State and offers a number of policy options to help reduce the use of SGBV as a weapon of war in South Sudan moving forward.

The brief is structured in three sections. After a short introduction, the first section provides background information on the protection of civilians (POC) site that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) established in the state capital of Bentiu in 2014. The second section presents survey findings on the incidence of SGBV in Unity State. The third section examines the choices that households in Bentiu POC make when confronted with SGBV.