A/HRC/40/CRP.1 childless woman will be considered not worth keeping as men are expected to procreate numerous children, and risk being labelled as infertile and mocked by the community. 499 South Sudanese women are accorded equality in law and at policy level as the Transitional Constitution recognizes the need to advance the rights of women as well as promote equality and non-discrimination between women and men. In terms of the Transitional Constitution, custom and tradition are regarded as a source of law with an obligation on the Government to ensure that all levels, “it enacts laws to combat harmful customs and traditions which undermine the dignity and status of women”. 500 At a political level, the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan requires that Government should promote women´s participation in public life and their representation in the legislative and executive organs by at least 25 percent as a positive measure to redress the imbalances of the past. Substantive equality continues to elude women in South Sudan despite these reforms and the Government’s accession to CEDAW and its Optional Protocol on 30 April 2015. The lives of South Sudanese women and girls continue to be dominated by family and clan prescriptions, in accordance with tradition and custom. 501 The Government of South Sudan has also developed a National Action Plan for the implementation of United National Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and related resolutions. 502 The prevailing inequalities and discrimination in power relations, lack of access to resources and the inability to access quality education, have made women and girls incredibly vulnerable and susceptible to domestic violence, which has been exacerbated by the conflict. The vast majority of cases brought by women are dealt with under customary law with an outcome usually violating their rights as the customary system is designed to remedy the grievances primarily of men and of communities as a whole, and have tended to fail women. The increase in conflict-related sexual violence and the lack of accountability for these crimes continue to be of deep concern. This has also led to an international NGO filing the first ever case against the Government of South Sudan the CEDAW Committee in December 2018 for the rape, mass rape and sexual slavery of thirty South Sudanese women and girls before. The Complaint argues that the Government of South Sudan is in violation of its obligations under CEDAW as a result of its failure to protect and investigate, prosecute and eliminate sexual and gender-based violence committed against the complainants, specifically in relations to crimes committed in or around Central Equatoria in 2016 and 2017. 503 1. Changes in Gender Roles and Norms Gender norms and relations are dynamic and have gradually evolved. This evolution is reflected in legislation and peace agreements, and in the increasing number of female civil servants, politicians and women working in civil society, media, academia and the business sector. The ongoing armed conflict and displacement has also resulted in many women being widowed and separated from their spouses resulting in them taking on the role of the head of the family and household carrying the responsibility for all in the family. Women have become economically independent and resourceful in supporting their families. While the conflict has resulted in greater poverty and hardship for women already impoverished, it has also built resilience and new opportunities to transform traditional O. Stern, “‘This is How Marriage Happens Sometimes’: Women and Marriage in South Sudan”, in F. Bubenzer, O. Stern (editors), Hope, Pain and Patience, The Lives of Women in South Sudan, Fanele, Jacana Media, 2011. 500 Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan as amended by the Transition Constitution of South Sudan, 2011 (Amendment) Act, 2013, Article 16 (4)(b). 501 See the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan as amended by the Transitional constitution of South Sudan, 2011 (Amendment) Act, 2013 which provides for the equality of rights and duties for men and women (Preamble, Article 16: Rights of women), the equal protection of the law without discrimination (Article 14: Equality before the Law), for the unconstitutionality of forced marriage (Article 15: Right to found a family), the Rights of women including the obligation for the Government at all level to enact laws to combat harmful customs and traditions which undermine the dignity and status of women (Article 16: Rights of women); Local Government Act (2009), section 110; M. Hove, E. Ndawana, “Women’s Rights in Jeopardy: the case of war-torn South Sudan”, Sage open, October-December 2017: 1-13; Care, “‘The girl has no rights’: GenderBased violence in South Sudan”, Report, 2014. 502 Government of South Sudan, National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and Related Matters, 20152020. 503 Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), “First Legal Case Lodged Against South Sudanese Government for Gang Rape and Sexual Slavery”, 6 December 2018. 499 79