‘Discrimination against women on the rise in Sudan’: activists

Gender activists in Sudan have expressed their concerns about the decline in the gains that women have achieved during the past years.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, lawyer Amal El Zein, the control of extremist religious groups over the media and educational curricula has led to confining women again to a reproductive role.

“These groups are pressuring the authorities to lay-out discriminatory measures against women, and to send women back home to serve their husbands and children. This is causing a significant setback in the social gains won by women in the past,” she said in an interview that was aired on Monday.

Yesterday, the United Nations Development Programme published an investigative report on gender inequality in Africa, claiming that discriminatory norms for women in Sudan and their restricted civil liberties are considered to be among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. This restricts the economic growth of the region.

'Economic policies have exacerbated the problem of poverty, especially among women, who need work now more than ever.'

El Zein pointed out that the Personal Status Act affects the women's rights most. “This law contains articles that blatantly discriminate against women.”

Personal status laws in Sudan govern legal procedures that pertain to familial relations, including marriage, and are based on the Shari'a, the divine law of Islam.

Work

She added that the failure of the government’s economic policies has exacerbated the problem of poverty, especially among women, “who now need work more than ever’.

Recently, the work of women tea sellers on the streets in Khartoum and Omdurman has suffered from the withdrawal of permits by the state Commissioner. Starting this month the security service has confiscated the women's equipment and harrassed them, one tea seller reported, if they did not pay them a fee.

The activist lawyer demanded the abolition of “all legislation, decrees, and measures that violate women's right to work, restrict their movement, and hinder their communication abilities”. She further stressed the need to eliminate illiteracy among women, and bridge the gender gap in the education sector.

Related:

  Gender-gap costs sub-Saharan Africa $95 billion a year: UNDP (29 August 2016)

  
 Sudanese highlight displacement, discrimination on Women's Day (8 March 2016)