Content_paragraphs:  In South Sudan, many communities also exchange cows as a dowry for a br ide
  
  before marriage. For years, the rising cost of livestock and diminished access to cattle
  
  have contributed to cattle raiding by youths that have sometimes triggered cycles of
  
  retaliatory raids and intercommunal violence. Those practices are also a signi ficant
  
  driver of sexual and gender-based violence. Women are sometimes abducted during
  
  cattle raids, or they are raped by youths to avoid having to pay a dowry, because in
  
  such circumstances it is common practice for families to negotiate a marriage between
  
  the rapist and the survivor at a lower bride price or even without one. The economic
  
  crisis has also driven many families to marry off girls at a younger age so as to receive
  
  dowry payments as a supplement to their income. While such violence may be rooted
  
  in socioeconomic practices and may be motivated by personal gain, those dynamics
  
  intensify the vulnerability of youths to mobilization by political actors, who can
  
  supply them with the weapons they need for such cattle raids in exchange for support
  
  during military operations.
  
   
  
   
  
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   6  Saferworld, “Communities tackling small arms and light weapons in South Sudan: lessons learnt
  
  and best practices”, briefing, July 2018.
  
   7  World Bank Group, “South Sudan”, Macro-Poverty Outlook, No. 284 (Washington, D.C.,
  
  October 2020).
  
  
  
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   G. Systemic governance challenges