The Feminist Movement in Sudan: A Struggle Amid Military Coups and a Patriarchal Mentality

By Sharika Wa Laken Last updated Jul 28, 2023

By Fatima Badri

The feminist movement in Sudan began decades ago. It was associated with the struggle against Colonialism and continued in later stages with national governments and military coups, which stormed the country several times. Since the turn of the twentieth century, Sudanese women have fought valiantly for their rights. Despite political conflicts, military coups d’état, and outdated customs and traditions, they were able to obtain some quality rights at the time.

But once the National Islamic Front came to power in a military coup in 1989, women’s status reversed. The feminist movement in general has also relapsed, starting a more severe phase. Therefore, when the revolution against the regime of Omar al-Bashir was launched, Sudanese women were at the forefront of all movements. Women did not leave the squares and robustly contributed to the overthrow of the regime. But again, the rights gained by Sudanese women weren’t by any means equivalent to the efforts they made.

History books acknowledge the olden involvement of Sudanese women in resisting all forms of tyranny and colonialism. Several women were known to have participated, along with men, in the fight against foreign occupation. The name Mahira Bint Abboud stood out, especially at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when she was known for her motivating poems for Sudanese fighters in their war against the Turkish-Egyptian occupation. She also later participated in Sudanese army battles against the Turkish campaign.

The role of women at this stage became important at multiple levels until unions and organizations emerged as tools to resist foreign occupation. At the time, Sudanese women were strongly present, and the name of Dr. Khalida Zaher, the first Sudanese doctor, rose as a political activist openly interested in women’s issues. As a result, she was arrested by the British colonizer because of her attitude towards the foreign occupation of her country. Khalida was also one of the most prominent founders of the Sudanese Women’s Union, which is considered the most important women’s organization in Sudan’s modern history.

The Women’s Union returned to underground work, and its cadres dispersed between Cairo and London. Sudanese women have also been systematically humiliated by the Islamic Front, which tried to minimize women’s roles in public life.

An organizational feminist movement: Sudanese Women’s Union

The focus of the Sudanese Women’s Union was on forming a union concerned with women’s issues, uniting unions formed by working women. Initially, the “Women’s Cultural Association” was established (1946-1949), but the attempt was not completed. Labor continued until the beginning of January 1952, during which the first founding meeting of the Women’s Union was held.

The preliminary committee was initiated by Khalida Zaher, Nafissa Ahmad Ibrahim, Aziza Makki, Hajja Kashif, Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim, Nafissa al-Malik, and Fatima Talib, who are active women in public and professional life. For example, in 1949, Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim, a student at Umm Durman High School, led the first strike linked to a women’s cause in Sudan.

Since its establishment, the Union has discussed important issues, such as education, literacy, and women’s right to work, as an introduction to equality and social justice. The Union also sought to improve women’s living conditions and wages and to combat customs and traditions that harm the image of women. This was in addition to multi-method awareness campaigns led by the Union against FGM.

After gaining independence in January 1956, the Sudanese parties failed to come to a compromise formula regarding the system of government and the constitution. General Ibrahim Abboud ended up seizing power through a military coup on November 17, 1958, which lasted until 1965. After the coup, all political parties were dissolved, and organizational work such as gatherings and demonstrations were banned throughout the country, and of course, the Women’s Union was one of them.

Feminist movement in the post-independence period

Under this new situation, the Union was forced to resume its activities secretly and continued to publish the magazine “Women’s Voice”. Sudanese women were also strongly involved in opposing the first military rule. The Women’s Union played a pivotal role in the October 1964 Revolution by mobilizing women’s bases to participate in the protests, which were then led by the union’s militant president, Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim.

After the fall of the military regime, Sudanese women were able to extract some gains, such as the right to vote and run for elections. Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim became the first female parliamentarian in Sudan and the Middle East after running in the first elections after the October Revolution.

Fatima Ahmad Ibrahim continued her struggle in the Parliament to defend women’s rights. Her presence in this position helped Sudanese women to obtain some rights, such as the right to practice all professions, after Sudanese women’s work was limited to nursing and education. They could also secure equal pay, bonuses, rewards, and career advancement, as well as paid maternity leave, and abolishing the ” Marriage Announcement Law”. This law forced working women to submit their resignations after marriage.

But the security and political situation in the country has not been stable for long with the civil war in South Sudan and the reiterative failure of the parties to concur. Thus, a new military coup against the elected government, led by Jaafar Numeiri, took place on May 25, 1969.

As in the case of the first military coup, Numeiri’s regime quickly dissolved the parliament. He banned all political parties and imposed a one-party state represented by the Sudanese Socialist Union. The Women’s Union was dissolved too, and its members were dismissed from work, some were arrested and imprisoned. Instead of an independent feminist movement, the Sudan Women’s Union, the women’s wing of the Socialist Union, was established, which in turn tightened the tools of oppression. This restricted freedom of political and social activity.

The journeys of the Sudanese feminist movement… From public to secret

In the midst of this situation, the political, security, and economic situation deteriorated at the beginning of the eighties. Civil war broke out again in South Sudan in 1983, which paved the way for an uprising (March-April 1985) later. Once again, Sudanese women played significant roles in the uprising, benefiting from their advances in education and employment in various professions. This was a direct reason for their organization under the umbrella of professional unions, which had the largest role in the success of the revolution and the overthrow of Numeiri’s military regime. Subsequently, the Women’s Union resumed its activities openly.

In June 1986, Al Sadiq Al-Mahdi formed a coalition government between a number of parties. But the political conflict persisted for three years, ending in another military coup. The alliance between the army and the Islamists took place on June 30, 1989, and lasted about 30 years.

During this period, the Women’s Union returned to underground work, and its cadres dispersed between Cairo and London. Sudanese women were also systematically humiliated by the Islamic Front, which tried to minimize women’s roles in public life. For example, laws preventing them from obtaining some senior jobs were issued, after having previously occupied them. Consequently, the presence of women in engineering and medical faculties was reduced, in addition to dismissal from work, displacement, harassment, and blatant interference in matters of public appearance and freedom of movement.

This didn’t stop at the deprivation of public life such as the right to higher education and freedom of movement and appearance, but there was also systematic repression. The security services practiced violence against women activists in civil society, political organizations, and the press. This violence ranged from defamation, and verbal and physical violence, to sexual violence through the systematic practice of rape. The public order system also provided legal cover, contributing to security forces arbitrarily arresting and assaulting women, on what is considered “inappropriate” behavior or “indecent” clothing.

Throughout the Revolution, Sudanese women have had their share of killing, torture, and arrest. They also challenged society’s refusal of their engagement in revolutionary work, for patriarchal reasons indicating that the house is the “natural place” for women. After the success of the Revolution and the fall of Omar Al-Bashir’s regime, which Sudanese women had the greatest credit for, the fruits harvested didn’t amount to their sizeable participation.

Post-revolution

Sudanese activist Ro’oya Hussein told Sharika Wa Laken: “Because of armed conflicts, civil wars, military coups, and the proliferation of weapons over decades, fear inhabits all Sudanese women, especially feminist activists because they have always been subject to different forms of attack. But there was hope that the anticipated change would occur, and the sacrifices of generations of women would succeed and bear fruit, especially at the level of legal texts.”

She regretted that “the period of Islamist rule torpedoed all the efforts and sacrifices of Sudanese women who fought fierce battles to obtain some rights. This era, which fragmented and dissipated the feminist movement under the regime’s strict grip, led to the limitation and secrecy of feminist activism. Today, after the overthrow of Bashir, a new era has begun for Sudanese women and the feminist movement in particular, but with unclear features so far.”

Since the outbreak of the revolution in Sudan in late 2018, feminists have joined political parties and organizational groups in demanding the overthrow of the “regime of Omar Al-Bashir.” The feminist movement was characterized by active participation, which was evident in the leadership and planning of some feminists for demonstrations demanding an end to totalitarian rule. They were also mightily present in all revolutionary activities, including catching tear gas canisters and others.

Feminist activist I’tizaz Bakri Abdullah Othman told Sharika Wa Laken: “Women participated remarkably in the glorious December revolution. But women have been excluded from political decision-making because the structure of political consciousness is patriarchal and biased towards men. This structure treats women as a secondary revolutionary class, and their function is limited to motivating men in revolutionary resistance.”

A new movement in the process of emerging

“The battle for rights of Sudanese women in the transitional period has failed,” said I’tizaz Bakri Abdullah Osman, noting that “the most basic right, which is political participation, has been manipulated. Women’s participation was capped at 40 percent of the seats in the legislature, which has not yet been formed. Even the governments that were formed had few women after pressing campaigns organized by feminist groups.”

Sudanese activist Ro’oya Hussein told Sharika Wa Laken, “At the moment, it is difficult to draw a clear picture of Sudanese women’s movements. It is also difficult to assess them in light of the collapsing economic situation, civil wars, unfair laws, and patriarchal political authority, whether militarized or civilian.” “All these challenges affect the Sudanese feminist movement. Besides, after the Revolution, some new feminist voices emerged based on approaches and theories different from before 2018. These are all data that make us only observe, to understand how the movement will be formed and which ideas it will adopt.”

Despite the grim situation, there are some hopeful gains for Sudanese women. Decades later, some articles of the Penal Code and personal status laws that established women’s inferiority were amended. The article prohibiting women from taking their children abroad without the consent of their spouse or representative was repealed. In this regard, sexual and genital mutilation (FGM) has been criminalized. The Public Order Law, based on Article 152 of the Penal Code, was also repealed. The latter was used to limit women’s participation in the public sphere by stalking, blackmailing, and flogging them on charges of wearing “obscene or indecent dress” or “engaging in indecent behavior.”