Inter-communal structures can prevent women and children from being captured during cattle raids and forced into servitude.

The abduction of women and children during cattle raids is fairly common along the South Sudan-Ethiopia border. Incidents have surged since 2014 due to civil war in South Sudan and later in Ethiopia. Le Monde estimates that as of 2022, over 9 000 women, boys and girls were being held in captivity in the border region.

In April 2024, an estimated 10 000 cattle rustlers attacked a community in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state. They killed 32 people, stole 16 000 head of cattle from herders – and captured over 100 women and children.

Alan Juma, a teacher in South Sudan’s Greater Pibor Administrative Area, says those who are abducted are driven, along with cattle, to the South Sudan-Ethiopia border. There, they are immediately sold to wealthy households that want children or additional wives. This often condemns the women and children to a lifetime of servitude.

Tasew Gashaw, a Researcher at the Wilson Center, points to the Murle, Dinka and Toposa communities as key actors in capturing women and children during cattle rustling. They are transhumant pastoralist ethnic groups that straddle the South Sudan-Ethiopia border.

The abductions are culturally accepted among these pastoralists and are driven by several factors. One is the Murles’ desire to increase their population – which forms less than 1% of both Ethiopia and South Sudan’s national populations. Abduction is a means to ‘forcefully adopt’ children, especially by Murle families without sons.

The capture of children is also motivated by the need to pay dowry for brides. Juma says young men abduct children from rival communities and sell them in exchange for cattle to pay bride wealth. The abductions, accompanied by invasions of enemy territory and cattle theft, also give young men a sense of heroism.

The cross-border network comprises warriors who carry out the raids and community elders who bless the raids and benefit from the sale of livestock and abductees. Arms traffickers are involved in selling the arms and ammunition used in the attacks. Brokers at the border connect the kidnappers with those who buy abductees.

South Sudan’s Akobo town on the Ethiopian border is reportedly where most of the kidnapped women and children are sold. It is estimated that one child can sell for at least 20 cows, the equivalent of US$7 000. In Akobo, the sale of children is described as a ‘livelihood’ option. Once exchanged for cattle, abducted children often face sexual exploitation, forced labour, child marriage and slavery.

Akobo, South Sudan

Source: ENACT/ISS

In 2016, the Ethiopian military crossed into South Sudan to rescue over 100 Ethiopian children who had been captured. And while South Sudan’s government and the United Nations (UN) Mission in South Sudan have made efforts to trace and repatriate abductees, the threat of abductions remains. The government’s offer of ransom payment for the release of abductees has further fuelled the problem.

In July 2024, an Ethiopia-South Sudan Joint Border Administrators and Governors’ meeting was held in Addis Ababa. The abductions of women and children and cross-border violence were on the agenda. Delegates from South Sudan came from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, and the states of Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria. The Ethiopian side included leaders from the Gambella Region.

The meeting was the first of many to foster ongoing engagement and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in dismantling the cross-border network that facilitates cattle rustling and abductions.

Charles Lopeyok, a Project Manager at the Integrated Community Peace and Development Organisation in Kapoeta, South Sudan, told the ENACT organised crime project that strengthening cross-border structures could help trace abductees and prevent communities from retaliating.

Stakeholders also need to implement the Pieri Peace Agreement, which encourages the participation of youth and women in inter-communal peacebuilding structures. The agreement, signed by cross-border communities in 2021, established an implementation committee comprising young people. The committee is responsible for coordinating the reporting, tracing, rescue and rehabilitation of abductees, and their reintegration with families – actions that can help prevent revenge raids.

The two governments should work closely with child protection actors, such as Human Rights Watch, to galvanise international support and raise awareness about the issue. This could lead to a broader coalition of civil society bodies that can help the two governments enhance protections for vulnerable populations.

Both governments should also put in place security and surveillance measures to prevent the cattle raids that lead to abductions. This would mean strengthening cross-border cooperation between the Toposa, Murle and Anyuak communities along the Ethiopia-South Sudan border.

Written by Willis Okumu, Senior Researcher, ENACT, ISS Nairobi

This article was first published by ENACT