South Sudanese women researchers and academics face widespread misogyny and barriers to access, financial and workplace inequality, sexual harassment and specific risks of violence across the research sector. In this podcast, a group of junior and senior academics and freelance researchers discuss the connected challenges women face in South Sudan’s research industry. The discussion highlights the personal and professional difficulties of gaining space and recognition in the academic and research community; the gendered roles and risks of research for South Sudanese women; endemic sexual harassment and structural barriers to research careers for women, including a lack of fieldwork insurance and equal contracting; and the need for South Sudanese women to set their own research agendas.

Delve deeper into the ethical landscape of South Sudanese research with the briefing accompanying this podcast, and understand the broader challenges in the field in the first podcast of this series, featuring diverse voices from the local research community.