Bride Price Under the Spotlight
The practice of bride price in South Sudan, an exchange of cattle or cash for a bride, remains widely observed despite urbanisation and migration. Critics say it commodifies women and strains young men financially (Nyamilepedia, 2020).
Citizen journalist Paul Ruot Bayoch reignited the debate by arguing that no culture should reduce human dignity to a transaction. His essay attracted praise and pushback across the region.
Voices from the Diaspora
Tatiana Bol, a Russian-Australian once married to a Nuer professional, shared a four-page letter describing how bride price expectations eroded her marriage.
She admired her husband’s humour and ambition, yet struggled as he channelled wages toward relatives seeking funds to “buy” wives, a duty she saw as incompatible with equality.
“I am one tiny voice competing with hundreds from your tribe,” she wrote, capturing the tension between personal affection and communal pressure.
Cultural Pride and Economic Realities
Supporters defend bride price as a pillar of kinship, compensating families for raising daughters and cementing alliances.
Economists, however, note that spiralling amounts—sometimes exceeding US$50,000—fuel cycles of debt, cattle raiding and delayed marriage, especially in a nation where more than half live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2023).
Bayoch cautions that poverty, greed and social competition make abolition complex, since families rely on the proceeds for school fees, food and status.
Gender Dynamics at Home and Abroad
In Australian suburbs, Bol met South Sudanese women who linked bride price to marital rape, financial control and domestic violence, yet felt powerless to complain.
Scholars say migrating does not automatically dissolve patriarchal norms; rituals often travel, preserved as identity markers within diaspora circles (Melbourne University, 2022).
Conversely, some elders argue that abuse stems from individuals, not tradition, and that respectful men fulfil obligations without treating wives as property.
Paths Toward Reform and Respect
Activists propose capping payments, promoting joint decision-making and replacing cattle with symbolic gifts to retain cultural meaning while removing harm.
Church leaders suggest premarital counselling that stresses mutual consent and Christian teachings on equality.
Bayoch believes public dialogue, inclusive of elders, women and youth, can recalibrate customs without erasing heritage: “Culture must serve the people, not enslave them,” he told Radio Tamazuj.