A/HRC/40/CRP.1 Three of them raped her by inserting their hands in her vagina. 640 In January 2019, a women and an adolescent girl walking together to fetch wood outside the Bentiu PoC site, were attacked by seven men, they were ganged-raped by four and three men respectively. Both of them described their assailants as men carrying weapons, wearing civilian clothes and hiding their faces behind a mask. The woman was beaten by one of the attackers. Once he was finished raping the girl, one of the assailants asked her to stand up and turn her back so he could kill her. Bravely, she responded that he would have to face her. One of the other assailants intervened and they left.641 None of these women have been outside the PoC site since they were attacked and therefore are in a dire economic situation since selling firewood is their only source of income.642 The members of the Community Watch Group inside the PoC site often observe women coming back to the PoC site crying and can tell from their body language that something has happened to them. 643 On 2 November 2018, 13 girls aged 6 to 15 years old and two women were abducted; one was raped by two unknown men.644 Also in November 2018, one girl was raped outside the Bentiu PoC site. A few days later, she recognised her rapist as he had entered the PoC site. He was arrested and tried during the Bentiu mobile court session in January 2019. He was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment. 645 One 15-year old girl was raped about 200 metres from the PoC site when coming to visit her sick husband at the hospital.646 On 31 January, the Commission received two new allegations regarding two girls who had been raped when going outside the PoC site. Following the report of attacks against women on their way between Nhialdiu and Bentiu, UNMISS responded by clearing up the side of the Bentiu-Nhialdiu road so it will be harder for attackers to hide. It also repaired the road so vehicles can use it again and increased patrols in the area.647 The SPLA has committed to increasing patrols in the area to deter criminality. However, the SPLA Command admitted that, except if incidents happen, they do not patrol the shortcuts used by the civilians to reach Bentiu. 648 Attacks nevertheless continued in December 2018 and January 2019. The Deputy Governor of Northern Liech State himself acknowledged the occurrence of rapes in his area of responsibility and that sexual and gender-based violence are common there. 649 Humanitarian aid providers have resumed food distribution in Nhialdiu. 650 However, some beneficiaries still have to walk up to two hours each way to reach Nhialdiu and therefore remain at risk of being attacked. Women living in the Bentiu PoC site have no choice but to go out to look for firewood and they are resigned to being raped. 651 During its investigation, the Commission found that some women did not report their attacks to health service providers and encouraged them to do so. The Commission believes that some survivors might not have reported their attack either because they live too far from service providers or because they felt dissuaded to do so following public statements in December 2018 by authorities dissuading them from seeking assistance from the international health service providers.652 Some public figures also rejected the reality of so many rapes. In some cases, due to stigma attached to sexual violence, survivors are also pressured by families and the community not to report.653 640 Witness 1109, ERN 102324-102328. Witness 1100, ERN 102318 - 102323; Witness 1114, ERN 102308-102312. 642 Witness 1109, ERN 102324-102328; Witness 1100, ERN 102318 - 102323; Witness 1114, ERN 102308-102312; Confidential Meeting, 22 January 2019. 643 Witness 1111, ERN 102220-102225. 644 Confidential Document, ERN D116342-D116345. 645 Confidential Document, ERN D116342-D116345. 646 Confidential Meeting, 22 January 2019; Confidential Document, ERN D116342-D116345. 647 Confidential Meetings, 19 and 22 January 2019. 648 Confidential Document, ERN D116281-D116341. 649 CTSAMM, Sexual and Gender Based Violations (SGBV) in Bentiu Area, ERN D114855- D114860. 650 Food aid distribution resumed in January 2019. The previous time it had happened was in June 2017. 651 Confidential Meetings, 21, 25 and 27 January 2019. 652 Confidential Meeting, 27 January 2019. 653 See e.g. Statement of the Acting Chairperson of the South Sudanese Human Rights Commission during the 70 anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights indicating that some women were lying and were claiming they were raped in order to 641 93